BLACKBURN Rovers skipper Lee Carsley today apologised to supporters for his sending off against Crystal Palace at the weekend.

The midfield hard-man was red carded in the 67th minute after lashing out at Palace midfielder Stephen Thomson.

His dismissal ended up costing Rovers a point as Clinton Morrison went on to score Palace's winner six minutes later.

It was the first time Carsley has ever been sent off in his career and he has admitted he lost his cool out of sheer frustration.

But the Republic of Ireland international confessed it had been building up inside him ever since last week's Bank Holiday clash against Charlton Athletic at Ewood when Alan Curbishley's men staged a promotion party on the final whistle.

"It was stupid and the gaffer has told me that my frustration has cost both myself and the team," said Carsley.

"I felt their lad tried to stamp on my standing leg and that did my head in a bit so, instead of keeping my temper, I lost it a bit.

"So I've no complaints.

"I put the referee in a position where he had no choice but to send me off.

"I'm very disappointed though because it's the first one of my career.

"But that frustration has built up for a while to be honest, particularly with the way things have gone this season.

"Last Monday certainly didn't help when we saw Charlton celebrating the championship. It got a bit too much for some of us.

"I can only speak for myself but it was embarrassing.

"We were so-called favourites to go up at the start of the season but it was someone else who was celebrating at our ground whilst we were only halfway up the league.

"I didn't like that at all and now I cannot wait for the season to end."

Before Carsley puts his feet up for the summer, however, there is the small matter of Sunday's crunch clash with Manchester City at Ewood. And the Rovers skipper is desperate to avoid a repeat of the scenes which followed the Charlton game by blowing City's promotion hopes and denying them the point they need to secure a place in the Premiership.

"It's our chance to give something back to the fans after what has been a desperately disappointing season.

"It's important we go out with a bang otherwise if we finish with a defeat we will be left to dwell on it for half of the summer.

"We've got to finish as if we mean business next season."

Meanwhile, Carsley is considering pulling out of the Republic of Ireland's summer tour to America in order to give his foot a chance to recover.

The former Derby man broke a bone in his right instep during the FA Cup tie against Newcastle in January which saw him miss nearly three months of the season.

Now he is back playing again but the injury still gives him some discomfort and he wants to give it chance to heal properly.

"It's still a bit sore so I will probably have to miss Ireland's end of season trip to America to give it a bit of a break," said Carsley.

Rovers have announced loose details of their pre-season tour.

The club are currently planning a trip to the Black Forest in German where they hope to finalise possible friendlies against Frieburg and Strasbourg sometime during July.

Then, they plan to return to England for a friendly against Everton at Ewood on July 29 before flying out to Dublin for a week during early August for two games against Irish sides.

Rovers reserves complete their league programme tonight against Everton at Ewood.

The squad is: Filan, Grayson, Murphy, McKinlay, Peacock, Hawe, Baldacchino, Johnson, Burgess, Hamilton, Forsyth, O'Brien, Bingham, Richards, Howson, Douglas