Irish international Harry Arter had Jamie Redknapp cooing on Sky Sports yesterday, so superior was he to virtually every other player on the park against Spurs. Redknapp called Arter's performance the best midfield he's seen all season.
Arter's performance was, however, blemished when he took an elbow to the face from Spurs midfielder Moussa Sissoko:
It was a nasty incident, and it looked pretty deliberate on Sissoko's part.
The referee totally missed the incident, so Sissoko may yet receive a retrospective three-match ban for violent conduct. Arter, however, hopes that's not the case. Speaking afterwards, Arter says he believes Sissoko when he says that it was accidental, and accepts the apology.
He also hopes that Sissoko doesn't pick up a suspension from the F.A.:
He said to me afterwards that he did catch me but that it was by accident.
He doesn't seem to be that sort of player, so I'm sure it was by accident and hopefully we can move on from it.
Arter has been earning plaudits in the Premier League this season, amid those brief but no less bizarre rumours that he was backing out of the Irish squad to link up with England. Arter addressed those odd rumours in an interview with Kevin Kilbane on Off the Ball yesterday:
It was a strange one at the time. I didn't feel like I wanted to answer it or say anything about it because it hadn't come from me. For someone to make up a rumour like that, I personally felt like it didn't deserve an answer.
One thing I was a tad disappointed with was the reaction from certain people in Ireland. That's football and I chose to ignore it. Unfortunately I missed out through injury the last time but hopefully all goes well throughout this month and I'll be ready for the Austria game.
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