Tottenham Hotspur legend Gary Mabbutt has had his say on the incident involving Eric Dier and a supporter.
Following the FA Cup penalty shootout defeat at the hands of Norwich City on Wednesday night, the Spurs midfielder headed into the stands to confront a fan who had gotten into an altercation with his brother.
Much has been made about Dier's actions and it's likely he will face further punishment from the FA which could see him handed a lengthy ban.
Mabbutt was present at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the incident and offered his suggestion as to what Dier should have done in hindsight instead of taking matters into his own hands.
"The players were very disappointed after the defeat we had coming off [the pitch] as far as I'm aware," he said at the London Football Awards. " I was near where it happened and when Eric first came over towards the side I thought he had promised a young lad his shirt.
"I thought 'good for you Eric because you've lost the game but at least you've come to give your shirt to somebody', and it was only then I realised that he obviously spotted an altercation going on involving his brother and he went in there to get his brother out of it.
"Obviously as players you know you can't do that, that's something which you're not able to do although it's a human reaction.
"I think in hindsight he probably would have thought to got hold of one of the club's security people and got them to go in there and get his brother out of the situation.
"Unfortunately, he went in there and of course now it's front page news."
Dier's actions have prompted talk of similarities between ex-Manchester United forward Eric Cantona who kung-fu kicked a Crystal Palace supporter at Selhurst Park 25 years ago.
However, Mabbutt doesn't believe the two incidents can be compared.
"If you take into context the situation and circumstances that have led up to this happening, seeing a member of your family - believing they were in an altercation - he went in just to get his brother out of the situation," he added. "A lot has been made of it.
"Overall, yes you know you shouldn't go into the crowd and again with hindsight it's a very easy thing to say. He'd have done it differently if he had the chance again.
"But it's happened, you can't change that.
"But you can't compare this with what happened with Cantona."
