Club Brugge’s manager Nicky Hayen, stood firmly behind midfielder Raphael Onyedika despite his crucial red card in the Conference League encounter against Fiorentina.

The Belgian side suffered a 3-2 defeat to their Italian counterpart in the UECL semi-final first leg.

Onyedika’s dismissal came after a series of events starting with a booking for a mistimed tackle in the 58th minute, followed by a second yellow card just three minutes later.

Club Brugge however struggled to cope after Onyedika’s dismissal in the second half, however Hayen refused to attribute blame to the midfielder.

“The (Onyedika ) player himself did not know that he already had yellow and you could see from his reaction that he was surprised,” Hayen told the club’s official website.

“He did not know that he already had yellow and I will also defend him in that regard. He is, in that respect more intelligent and otherwise he would not have used that tackle in that way.

“It shows the aggressiveness of the team and that we do not want to give away any gifts and that is why I say it was unfortunate.”​

The Nigeria international will be sidelined for the crucial second leg at the Jay Breydelstadion next Thursday.