Lee Bowyer has explained the injury time red card incident which saw him sent off during Charlton's defeat to Birmingham City.

The Addicks were searching for a dramatic late equaliser before referee Matthew Donohue showed him a straight red card.

Here is what he said in his post-match press conference.

Read our report from the match here.

Q: Can you explain what happened with your red card?

Someone from their staff, or someone from Birmingham, threw a ball onto the pitch to try and waste time - which I've never seen before, just grabbing a ball from somewhere and throwing it on the pitch [to try and time-waste] - and then the ball ended up next to me.

I don't know how, but it ended up next to me, so then I picked the ball up. I started walking towards their bench and I was shouting down to them, 'Is this your ball?'

They said yes and then I threw the ball back. Then he [the referee, Matthew Donohue] said, because I left my technical area and throwing the ball back to them, then that's a red card.

I've never heard of that rule in my life.

I get that you're not allowed to leave the technical area but if they didn't throw the ball on the pitch in the first place then I wouldn't have to throw the ball back to them.

Q: So it's a straight red for leaving the technical area?

And throwing the ball back.

I can't see how that is a straight red. He's [the referee] saying that I threw the ball back 'aggressively' but they're 20 yards away.

I'm throwing it back. It's not like a tennis ball you just throw, it's a big ball.

There is no aggressiveness. I don't know, I don't know, and the fourth official wasn't even watching. I was like, 'Who told you I threw it back aggressively? I just threw the ball back to them!'

I just asked, 'Is this your ball?', they said yes, I threw it back. He said, 'Because you were out of the technical area then you can't do that'. But they [Birmingham] threw it on and if they don't throw it on then I don't have to throw it back.

Crazy. I've never heard of that rule before in my life and, in my eyes, I ain't done nothing wrong.

Q: Was it that two different offences resulted in the red card?

No, it was a straight red.

There were no two yellow cards. Apart from leaving the technical area, the game was stopped. I was just throwing the ball back, I don't know.

The game was stopped because the referee was trying to deal with the yellow card that was going for their people for throwing the ball on, so I just threw it back [to them].

Q: Do you know if you can appeal the red card?

I ain't got a clue.

I must be able to appeal, I must be able to.

[Laughing] but I was trying to throw the ball back, I did nothing wrong! Apart from leaving the technical area, okay fair enough, but what am I meant to do? Kick it back to them?

So what if I would have kicked it, then what? Because it's still the same thing. I could've kicked it harder so it reached [the Birmingham bench]. 

What's the difference? I'm throwing it harder or I'm kicking it harder, what's the difference? If anything, they're better off I'm throwing it. I can't throw it that far.

Q: What about Birmingham’s gamemanship?

I just felt that they managed the game well, if you like, because every time one of our players went near them they went down. 

I thought their 26 [David Davis] should have got sent off. He got booked for an incident with [Jason] Pearce and then, two minutes later, he takes out Conor Gallagher who has skipped past him and it's the most blatant yellow card in the game.

I'm not saying it because I want to see him get sent off, I'm saying it because that's the rules. And again, [we're] just making up rules as we're going along. It's a blatant yellow card.

If I can see it, everyone else can see it ... what, is he too scared to send the lad off? It was a blatant yellow card.

My players have been booked for the same thing this season.

Big decisions. You have to make those decisions, that's why you're there, that's why you're in charge. There's so much at stake.

My players gave everything.