Leeds United's Gaetano Berardi has admitted he considered the thought of walking away from football all together after he was controversially sent-off in the Whites' 2-1 defeat to Millwall back in October.
Just 14 minutes into the clash with the Lions at The Den, Berardi was dismissed after allegedly bringing down striker Tom Bradshaw inside the penalty area.
However, replays clearly showed Bradshaw, who later scored two to put Millwall 2-0 up, had gone down under the faintest of, if any, touches, leaving Berardi and his Leeds team-mates staggered by the referee's decision to send him for an early bath.
Leeds pulled a goal back immediately after half-time through Ezgjan Alioski, but the damage was already done, meaning Marcelo Bielsa and his players were left to rue what might have been, had they been able to play the full game with 11 men.
"I could not believe it," Berardi admitted in a Q&A video shared on the club's Twitter page. "That day was not easy because my first reaction was of me, on my own, in the dressing room and I said 'if it is like this maybe it is time to go away and don't come back,' because I had to accept this.
"After a few days I started to realise the club was working for this [to overturn the red card] and helping me. They did great work.
"When they took the red card off I was happy, really happy about that."
Since the disappointment of what happened in the capital all those months ago, Berardi has continued to be a useful squad player for Bielsa, proving he still has the necessary qualities to play a part in the Whites' drive for the Premier League.
And one common factor that has stood with Berardi right the way through his Whites career has been his decision to wear shirt number 28.
Explaining why he has always been insistent on donning that number on the back of his shirt, the 31-year-old said: "My first number was 27 and it was my first experience in the first-team at Brescia and after one year, one guy came to me and said that he would like to take 27.
"I said 'I'm not bothered about the number so you can take it.'
"The next free number was 28 and I said 'that is okay for me.' I then discovered that it was the number of Pep Guardiola when he played for Brescia so I was happy about that.
"I played in Brescia for all those years wearing 28 and I started to like it. I wanted to keep it."
