Former Bristol City midfielder lifts lid on late 'headbutt' incident with Bristol Rovers defender in Portsmouth victory

And the ex-Bristol City midfielder also revealed what spurred him on against his former rivals.

The Welshman was involved in a late incident involving the Pirates defender, which saw a melee between both sides in the dying minutes at the Memorial Stadium.

In frustration, Quansah made a late challenge on Morrell, who reacted, before the Blues midfielder was ‘headbutted’ by the Liverpool loanee in the 89th minute.

This saw the 20-year-old given his marching orders by referee James Bell, whose performance was slammed by Rovers head coach Joey Barton.

But the 26-year-old was adamant both incidents deserved a red card, in what proved to be a fiery end to the contest.

‘It’s probably two red cards,’ Morrell told The News.

‘The lad was probably frustrated that we were keeping the ball, he’s gone through the back of me and it was a terrible tackle. Probably should be a red card.

‘I’ve got up, obviously frustrated and then he’s just headbutted me. There’s not much more to say other than that.

‘It’s probably two red cards and their manager was complaining about it at the end but that probably falls on deaf ears to be honest.’

Morrell came through the ranks with Bristol City, where he featured six times over a seven-year period at Ashton Gate.

The Robins are, of course, arch rivals to Bristol Rovers and Morrell, like ex-Robins defender Ryley Towler, were on the receiving end of boos and stick from the Pirates supporters.

But the midfielder insisted those chants spurred him on to get one over his former rivals.

Morrell added: ‘I’m one of tho e players who tries to be on it every game.

‘I wasn’t more motivated today because it was Bristol Rovers, of course I wasn’t expecting a good reception and that certainly wasn’t the case.

‘There’s probably a few of my ex-school mates who would’ve been hammering me today, which is always nice. I’m someone who does thrive off that.

‘If opposition fans are giving me stick, I’ll try to raise my game as much as I can and prove them wrong and that was definitely the case against Bristol Rovers.’