Robbie Blake's yellow card was pants, says Burnley boss Owen Coyle

Blake was handed his second yellow card of the season for revealing a pair of comedy underpants after scoring his first goal since March.

But although Coyle has gone to great lengths to clamp down on indiscipline this season, he admits he saw the funny side.

“When you score goals they’re there to be celebrated,” he said.

“We certainly don’t encourage bookings but we love the harmony, the spirit and the manner that they bounce off each other.

“I think it’s very important that it’s seen we do have that spirit. We don’t want to make a habit of it but coming from behind in a game again shows you the desire they’ve got to do well for each other.

“I saw (the pants) before the game. I thought the whole stadium would have heard about it because the raucous in the dressing room was incredible, and fair play to Clarkey (Clarke Carlisle), who managed to get a pair that would fit him!

“I was a little bit disappointed that he got a caution for it, especially with the story behind it as well, I think it shows the spirit within the group in the way Robbie’s taken it.

“He was adamant that he was wearing them.”

He added: “On a serious note, you don’t want to pick up cautions.

“I hate getting caught up in it all because I’d rather talk about football, but there’s a difficulty for referees because they’re under strict guidelines about what they have to do.

“As much as I’m annoyed about the booking, if the referee chooses to ignore that then he’s going to get pulled up by his supervisor and marked down.

“It’s a real difficult one for them, but football’s an entertainment; we’re there to entertain people and try to bring a bit of humour. I think our fans appreciated it, the players certainly did and it would have been nice to go unpunished.

“As it was, it never, but we do understand the referees are under great strain to make sure they don’t miss a thing.”