Carr's ball-boy row

Carr admitted: "It was just silliness really. I just wanted the ball back quickly."

The Republic of Ireland international will escape any punishment from the FA after Poll confirmed the incident will not be included in his report.

Instead, Poll's post-match comments will centre on the banishment to the stands of Blackburn manager Graeme Souness for questioning the referee's impartiality.

Souness said: "My biggest beef with referees now is they will not enter into dialogue with managers or coaches on the sidelines or players on the pitch.

"Wars start if you don't talk. There are some players out there who are very intelligent and they demand some respect.

"Nowadays a player just has to say to a ref, 'What the f**k was that about,' and the ref says, 'Say that again and you are off '. When I was a player you could talk to refs. If we were able to do that again the game would come on in leaps and bounds.

"I was frustrated by some the decisions Graham Poll was making. It came to a head when Steven Reid was fouled right in front of me.

"I just said to him 'I didn't know you were a Tottenham fan'. Then I said it again and he sent me off. There was no bad language, no swearing, no argument.

"Why should I now be banned from the touchline for that?"

Poll, a Queens Park Rangers fan, replied: "He questioned my impartiality. If he wants to speak nicely to me I will speak nicely to him."

The touchline entertainment was far more exciting than a game won by a deflected Vratislav Gresko strike - off Carr - in the 78th minute.

Caretaker manager David Pleat looks increasingly depressed by Tottenham's dithering over the managerial situation and the apparent lack of enthusiasm among his players did not help.

Only defenders Anthony Gardner and Richards played at anything like their best and Pleat said: "Some of our passing was short of the standard required to get a consistent run going in this league.

"I was watching the game just wishing we could have had Freddie Kanoute fit and out there. I don't like to use injuries as an excuse but that is the case."