ALEX Mowatt fronted up to shoulder the blame for Oxford United’s 3-0 defeat at Portsmouth after being sent off for a moment of madness.

The midfielder, on loan from Barnsley, looked set to make it 1-1 when he stepped up to take a penalty.

But after his effort struck the woodwork, Mowatt reacted to Nathan Thompson’s provocation by striking the former Swindon Town defender in the face.

While new United head coach Karl Robinson felt Thompson should have received a second yellow card for his role in the fracas, there could be no complaints about Mowatt’s dismissal.

The 23-year-old said: “That’s probably the worst 60 seconds I’ve had in football.

“I’ve missed a penalty so I’m already angry with myself and then he’s got in my face and I’ve reacted stupidly.

“I don’t think you can come in someone’s face like that after they’ve just missed a penalty.

“He’s bought it really, I’ve only pushed him but you can’t raise your hands.

“I thought we were the better side, I take full responsibility, I think I cost the boys. The least we go away with is a draw if I stay on the pitch, even if I miss the penalty.”

While Robinson was critical of Mowatt’s reaction, he praised the former Leeds United trainee’s decision to put himself forward for the post-match interviews.

He said: “That shows the type of man that he is – he asked me if he could do the press.

“When a player asks that, it shows the class of the man.

“He knows he was wrong and that it should never happen on the pitch.”

But the new U’s boss felt the incident should have seen the game reduced to ten-a-side following the incident.

And Robinson indicated he would be contacting the refereeing body to make his complaints about Charles Breakspear’s actions known.

He said: “I’m angry. The referee’s cost us the game.

“Their player was (already) booked and what he did was run 20 yards, stood in his face and goaded him. I’ve not seen that for a long time.

“The referee told my players he’d booked Thompson, but they didn’t know he’d been booked in the first half.

“I’m going to have a very good conversation with the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) tonight.

“I’ve got (Thompson’s) agent’s number and I’ll tell him as well – what he did was not acceptable on a football pitch.

“If my players did that I’d be very disappointed and they would be reprimanded.”