Andre Ayew says receiving a red card on his French Ligue 1 return is tough to take. The Black Stars captain was sent off two minutes after he was substituted on for his first Le Havre game at Nantes on Sunday.

The 33-year-old collided with Eray Comert less than two minutes when he came on and was given a straight red card, which many fans on social media described as harsh.

This is the incident that led to Andre Ayew’s red card two minutes into his Le Havre debut against Nantes.

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He was making a return to the French Ligue for the first time in eight years since leaving Marseille in 2015.

Speaking to Le Havre’s media team after the game, Andre explained that he had no intention to injure the player.

“It’s true that what happened was frustrating, but that’s football. I think that with some experience, we can look at some situations in hindsight but I am rather calm after I looked at the images.

“On the incident, this is what I made of it. There was a 50-50 ball, and we went in before I did. I saw that he had dived in and I lifted my foot.

“In the process, I tried to land to regain and in regaining my footing, I stepped on his shin guard.

“At that moment, the referee gave his decision, but that’s football. I did not have any intention to hurt him no matter what especially on my debut and return to Ligue 1.

“It’s true that when he touches the ball, he had a lifted foot but mine was too and he got his foot under my heel. That’s what happened, and I did not mean to hurt him. An incident like this happening on my return to Ligue 1 is tough to take.”