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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Vincent Whelan

Eamon Dunphy says Nathan Collins' red card was 'unlucky' - while having a pop at Jack Grealish

While most viewers felt Nathan Collins could have no complaints after being given his marching orders against Man City, Eamon Dunphy is among the minority who feel he was unlucky.

The 21-year-old has generally settled in well with Wolves since they broke the Irish transfer record to add him to their ranks in the summer.

But there have been a few bumps along the way like when he got caught out by Harry Kane during Tottenham's 1-0 win over them.

READ MORE: Nathan Collins sent off for awful challenge on Jack Grealish

And he learned an even harsher lesson on Saturday when he badly misjudged an aerial 50/50 against Jack Grealish - catching the £100m man with his studs in the process.

The rash challenge left Grealish with stud marks around his mid-section while referee Anthony Taylor showed no hesitation in immediately getting the red card out.

Collins waited around post-match for 25 minutes so he could apologise to Grealish but Dunphy feels there was an element of misfortune about how the challenge worked out.

Writing in his Irish Daily Star column, he said: "When he clattered into Jack Grealish on Saturday, Nathan Collins got plenty of heat online.

"Plenty were quick to hammer him for what they saw as a terrible challenge. I have to disagree, I actually think the Ireland man was unlucky to be sent off.

"To me, he clearly went for the ball and it was an accidental collision. It looked far worse than it really was.

"You can be sure that quite a few Ireland fans didn't mind Collins giving a bruise or two to Grealish.

"They will be slow to forgive him for turning his back on the green shirt - though I'd pile the blame on the Ireland management of the time."

He's certainly right on the second point as Irish Twitter was alight with jokes about Collins becoming even more popular in the wake of him having left one on pantomime villain Grealish.

But it really was a dangerous tackle that could have caused serious harm so Collins is right to take his medicine by presumably not appealing the resulting three-match suspension.

There wasn't much doubt prior to the outcome of the match with the Premier League champions already in front, but from there they cruised to a typically serene 3-0 win with the minimum of fuss.

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