Joey Barton has confessed that he let himself down by being sent off on the final day of last season.
The QPR midfielder was dismissed for violent conduct in the Loftus Road club’s clash with Manchester City, and was subsequently handed down a 12-match ban from the FA.
Barton has since secured a season-long loan to French club Marseille, and has explained his actions at the Etihad Stadium.
“I completely let myself down but it’s not a rational situation. I knew we could be relegated, they could win the league and I’m captain,” he revealed to The Sun.
“There’s a bit of a media spotlight on me so if we go down, I’m going to take a lot of s***.
“I was already getting it on Twitter so pressure started building and I didn’t handle it well.
“My inner chimp doesn’t work well with injustice, it reacts too quickly. Tevez has done what he’s done, I have reacted and the aftermath is…
“I look at it now and it’s almost like it’s not me. I’m like ‘What the f*** were you thinking?’
“At the time in some weird way I thought it was the correct way but, looking at it now, I know it wasn’t.
“I’ve got to learn a lesson from that. The thing it reiterated to me was just how far I am from the person I want to be,” he concluded.
