91Èȱ¬

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce called his captain Kevin Nolan "irresponsible" after the midfielder was sent off against relegation rivals Fulham.

Nolan was shown a straight red card for an off-the-ball kick at Fernando Amorebieta just before half-time in the club's 2-1 defeat at Craven Cottage.

Allardyce says Nola, 32, can have no excuses for his poor discipline.

"Our captain was irresponsible," he said. "He's let everyone down and himself."

Allardyce added: "I just don't quite understand why it's happened.

"I know their centre-half fouled him and I also know that [referee] Mark Clattenburg didn't give a free kick - and he should have done - but it's still not an excuse for what Kevin did."

Nolan had only recently returned from suspension having been sent off in West Ham's 4-1 defeat at Liverpool on 7 December., external

After picking up only two red cards in his first 351 Premier League appearances, Nolan has now collected two in his last four games.

"That's two in the space of the month now," said Allardyce. "It's not something I will allow to happen.

"We have to rally round now. We only have a few players to select from so losing Kevin and Mark Noble injured is a massive blow."

Midfielder Noble went down clutching his leg in the 32nd minute against Fulham and was replaced by Razvan Rat.