Planet Swans ArchivesSwansea City’s captain for the day was giving his view on the spitting incident that occurred just before half time as James Coppinger was receiving treatment on the floor.
Leon Britton says that Richie Wellens spat at him in an effort to get the midfielder to react – an incident that seemingly went unseen by the officials although Wellens was later sent off in the second half for a second bookable offence.
And Tate says that spitting is the worst thing that can happen in a game and told the Western Mail “Personally I think if someone spits on you you should be allowed to punch them
“I know you can’t do that, but spitting’s the worst thing that can happen in a game.
“I told Rick it was disgraceful what he’d done. What he did was out of character, but I know Rick well and he is a wind-up kind of player.
“That can be a good thing in a player if you can wind up an opponent, but what he did was disgusting.
“Leon obviously wasn’t happy coming in at half-time but it was something he had to rise above – and he did. He didn’t go for Rick when many players would have.”
But it was Tate (or Tateinho as he is destined to be known) that grabbed the headlines with the run that led to the penalty in another excellent display from the man who many thought were not up to Championship football “It was a penalty, he was right on my back and they didn’t dispute it that much,” asserted Tate.
“Maybe the poor start was a hangover from Tuesday, but we knew we had 80 minutes to get back into it.
“We did that and perhaps we could have had a couple more. But we never lost our heads and we wouldn’t have even if we had gone in 1-0 down at half-time.
“I don’t change my game because I’m captain,” said Tate.
“I’m loud anyway when we’re out there and before the game, so it’s no different for me wearing the armband.
“I knew I was lucky to be in the squad at the start of the season, so I never went in once and said to the gaffer that I should be playing.
“A few years ago I would have said something but I’ve grown up since then.”
