• FA Cup

Diouf protests his innocence over Mackie abuse

ESPN staff
January 13, 2011
El-Hadji Diouf remonstrates with QPR players as Jamie Mackie lies on the ground injured © PA Photos
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El-Hadji Diouf has denied verbally abusing QPR striker Jamie Mackie and has hit back at Hoops manager Neil Warnock, saying he is not an "important manager".

Warnock called the Blackburn striker a "sewer rat" after he alleged Diouf had aimed a torrent of abuse at Mackie when he lay prone on the pitch with a broken leg following a challenge with Gael Givet.

But Diouf, who was involved in a brawl in the tunnel with some of the QPR players after the match, insisted he had not verbally abused the injured striker.

"I am very sorry for the lad, to break his leg," Diouf told Sky Sports News. "After the match I got into an argument with some of the players, but when the lad broke his leg I never said nothing bad to him.

"I know I am an easy target, but everything Warnock said is not right. I'm not disappointed with what Warnock said, but who is Warnock? He knows nothing about me; he is not Alex Ferguson, he is not Arsene Wenger, he isn't Sam Allardyce or an important manager."

QPR players expressed their anger on their Twitter feeds, with defender Bradley Orr claiming he had "never come across a more repulsive human being than Diouf". Mackie, who miss the rest of the season after fracturing both his tibia and fibula, claimed Diouf's reaction was "repulsive".

"I'm lying on the floor with a bad injury and even his team-mates were embarrassed by what Diouf was saying," Mackie said. "It's hard for me to even repeat what he said. He called me a disgrace - but that wasn't the worst of it. He said: 'F*** you and f*** your leg.'"

Blackburn have confirmed they will investigate the incident.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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