DEVASTATED defender Craig Short today slammed French hit-man Steve Marlet for getting him sent off as Rovers crashed to another demoralising defeat at Fulham on Saturday.

The veteran centre back saw red for the third time this season after catching Marlet in the face with a stray elbow as Rovers lost 2-0 at Craven Cottage -- a result which saw them slip into the bottom three.

Now the former Everton man is facing up to the prospect of missing the Worthington Cup final as well as a string of vital league games over the next few weeks.

But, as Rovers consider whether or not to lodge an appeal against the decision, Short insists the way Marlet reacted to the incident made it look far worse than it was.

"The worst thing about all this for me is I'm now being associated with being a dirty player which I'm not," blasted Short.

"I think I'm a hard player, who is committed and passionate, but I'm fair. I don't go out intentionally to hurt people.

"So it's disappointing when you then see how some players react when there is contact.

"I've been hit in the face a few times but I wouldn't go down unless it's something serious and I think the foreigners are bringing that into our game so it's got to be stamped out.

"I see it every Saturday on TV and players end up missing games because of it so referees have got to start getting wiser."

Short only recently returned from a four match ban after committing a similar offence against Sunderland on Boxing Day.

But he insists he only lifted his arm to protect himself and had no intention of injuring Marlet whatsoever.

"That's how I've played throughout my career when I'm running with the ball and you see the likes of David Dunn, Mark Hughes and Paul Gascoigne all do it a lot as well because it's a way of shielding the ball," said Short.

"I'd got the ball, I was in possession, I saw him trying to come across and close the gap, so I thought I've got to hold him off.

"And because I'm tall, I'm sometimes going to catch people in the face as a result.

"However, the ref then said he was sending me off for retaliation but I wasn't retaliating at all.

"So now I'm going to miss a raft of games, including a Cup final, which would have been one of the highlights of my career."

Short also won support from his manager, Graeme Souness.

He revealed the club are considering lodging an appeal.

"I'm not sitting on the fence when I say this but I definitely didn't see what happened," said Souness.

"But I know Craig Short because I've worked with him for the last two years and he's very much your old-school English pro.

"He wouldn't purposely put his elbow, his fist or anything else in somebody's face.

"He told me he tried to shield the ball and, okay, he caught him around his head, but he didn't do that on purpose.

"So I feel choked for him because he's 33 years old, he's been in the game a long, long time, he's never experienced a Cup final and now he'll miss it."

Short's dismissal compounded a disastrous day all round for Rovers as they crashed to a 10th defeat from their last 12 league games.

And, to make matters worse, Turkish international Tugay will now join Short on the sidelines for the Worthington Cup final after he also collected his 10th booking of the season late on which is likely to result in a two-game ban.

"I turned around to our bench after five minutes and said 'someone's going to get sent off today' because of the way the referee had started the game," added Souness.

"He'd booked three players in the first five minutes. Two Fulham players were booked for absolutely nothing and Lucas Neill then got booked for what was a rash challenge but not an outrageous one.

"So just where's the game going? It's not a hundred years ago since I played.

"People like to see challenges and people like to see effort and they want to see the better players on the pitch, not sitting beside them in the stand for long periods of the season.

"But that's what we are risking with our football at the moment because of the brief the referees have got.

"It's beyond me and it frustrates me and I think it frustrates everyone in football.

"Jean Tigana looked at me after his second player got booked and his expression said it all. But that's the general feeling in football at the moment."

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