John Coleman was pleased with the way his side kept their discipline in 2-1 win over Fleetwood Town in the first group match of the Leasing.com Trophy.

Second half goals from Wilson Carvalho and Sean McConville came before Paddy Madden converted a penalty in the dying minutes of the match.

Harrison Biggins was shown a straight red card in the first half for a reckless tackle on McConville in a game where tempers flared on and off the pitch.

“I was pleased with the way we played, we had to keep our discipline,” said Coleman.

“The game was in danger of getting out of control, but luckily our lads kept their heads and I think we played some good football.

“I’m disappointed we’ve conceded at end. I thought we could’ve had three penalties in the game and then we get one given against us, which is hard to take.

“We’ve won the game and that’s what we’ve set out to do.”

Lamine Kaba Sherif was substituted in a fiery first half after he picked a booking for a strong tackle on Wes Burns - forcing the midfielder to go off injured.

“There was a lot of furore – one of their lads has gone of injured,” Coleman added.

“It was a good tackle by our player, he hasn’t given a foul, he’s won the ball, but he’s caught him on the follow through.

“He hasn’t done it deliberately, I know Lamine hasn’t got a malicious bone in his body. Sometimes you get injured in this game just by a freak accident.

“There was no malice in the tackle, it was a good hard tackle and he’s won the ball.

“You’ve seen how far the ball went; you can have no illusions that he didn’t win the ball.

“Sometimes you get caught on the follow through and that’s just what happens in football. You don’t want to see anyone getting injured and I feel for the lad getting injured, we’ve had plenty of players who have suffered the same fate.

“You have to get on with it, the referee didn’t even think it was a foul.

“He got booked for winning the ball, but I think the referee has thought about their player going off injured and there’s a seed of doubt of in his mind.

“It’s not a yellow card. He’s clearly won the ball. What you don’t want to do then is give the referee a decision to make.

“They were getting quite vociferous on the bench and you just don’t want the referee to have another decision to make.”

It was the second meeting of the sides in the space of 10 days after Fleetwood won 2-0 at Highbury in a game which saw McConville sent off late on.

“We had some horrendous decisions go against us in the game the other week in the league,” Coleman said.

“We told our lads that has no bearing on the game, you have to keep focussed.

“I don’t know whether Biggins had decided to take the law into his own hands, but it’s an horrendous challenge on Sean McConville and you can’t tackle like that in football.

“He hasn’t made any attempt for the ball; he’s just gone for the man. If you go for the man, you get what you deserve.

“We know that, and I’ve had it confirmed by the head of referees that it should have been two reds, so Ched Evans was fortunate not to be sent off in the league.

“But that’s gone now, that’s history and there’s no point bleating on about it.”