Braintree Town boss Alan Devonshire insists his team are not a dirty side despite seeing their ninth separate player receive a red card this season.

Devonshire felt Watford loanee Britt Assombalonga was very unlucky to get see his Iron debut cut short as he was given his marching orders late in their 3-3 draw at Lincoln City in the Blue Square Bet Premier.

The 19-year-old went over in the Imps’ penalty area in stoppage-time.

The referee thought he had dived and showed him a second yellow card, but Devonshire felt contact had been made by the home keeper and it should have been a late spot-kick for his team.

He added: “I can’t say too much as I’ll get myself in trouble, but I think it was a penalty from where I saw it.

“If it was a penalty, then the keeper would have had to have been sent off for denying a goal-scoring opportunity.

“He (Assombalonga) had gone through and drawn the keeper, he pushed the ball round him and was caught.

“The keeper said at the end that he had caught him, but Britt tried to stay on his feet and get to the ball.

“He just tumbled over and I was amazed when I saw the referee show him the yellow card.”

It was Braintree’s ninth red card of the season, but Devonshire feels that statistic doesn’t tell the whole story.

He said: “We aren’t a dirty team and people who have watched us play can see that for themselves.

“We are competitive, but we’re not dirty.

“He (Assombalonga) is 19 and he had got some rough treatment all through the game and he has got sent off for two very harsh decisions and it’s going to hurt us now as he will miss the next game.”

See the paper this week for more thoughts from the Braintree boss on Assombalonga’s loan to the Iron and all the latest news and exclusive views from the Amlin Stadium.