ORLANDO Sa apologised to his Reading FC teammates following his red-card shame against Derby County.

The Portuguese ace was sent off for a moment of madness when he appeared to headbutt Rams’ defender Jason Shackell in an off-the-ball incident.

Sa received his marching orders on the stroke of half-time and Reading went on to suffer their first defeat in eight matches as Tom Ince’s 69th minute goal secured victory for the grateful visitors.

But Royals midfielder Aaron Tshibola insisted no-one was to blame for the ugly clash.

He told the Chronicle: “Orlando is a very nice guy and I’m sure that whatever he did, he didn’t mean it. It is what it is.

“I didn’t really see the incident so I can’t really comment too much,. Bbut Orlando is a good lad, he knows what he did.

“He said his apologies to the entire team after the game and we all forgave him.”

The past week has been one of highs and lows for Sa who scored a superb hat-trick in last week’s 5-1 thrashing of Ipswich Town, only to get sent off against Derby County.

“We know how influential he is to us, and so does everybody else,” added Tshibola. “He showed that with his three goals against Ipswich Town last week. All we can do now is stay focussed and look forward to Saturday’s game.”

If Reading decide not to appeal, Sa will serve an automatic three-match ban for violent conduct, ruling him out of the Championship trips to Bristol City this Saturday (3pm ko) and also Burnley, as well as the Capital One Cup clash against Everton.

Tshibola confessed: “The hardest part is we may miss him for the next three games. He’s a big player on the pitch. The good thing is we are a good squad with good players who can fill in the gaps.

“I’m sure whoever the gaffer picks for the next game will do an excellent job for the team.”

The loss to Derby was Reading’s first defeat since the opening day of the Championship season.

It also ended Royals’ hopes to of securing a third successive league victory for the first time in a year.

However, boss Steve Clarke will have been pleased with the attitude his players showed to going a man down against a Rams’ side hotly-tipped to secure promotion.

“We were comfortably in the game,” argued Tshibola. “We had some good passages of play and were unlucky not to score early.

“But wWe got the red card and these things happen in football. We

reacted well to that and continued to create some chances.

“I had a few shots myself but it’s frustrating when you don’t score, but we’ve got to keep our heads up, go again on Saturday and try and put it right.”