BLUES boss Phil Brown insisted John-Joe O’Toole had to be substituted at half-time to stop him getting sent off at Wycombe Wanderers.

O’Toole was booked during the first half for a foul on Josh Scowen.

And Brown revealed he had been warned by referee Graham Horwood that the midfielder was close to being shown a red card.

“The referee pointed at me and told me John-Joe was close to a red card,” said Brown.

“When that happens you have no option but to take the player off and that’s what we did to stop him being sent off.

“John-Joe said the referee was chirping away at him the whole game, almost giving him a running commentary and telling him how close he was to being sent off.

“I find that strange and that’s why John-Joe had to come off at half-time.

“I also decided to take off Myles Weston and that was because I didn’t think he had done much after making the goal.”