Former Nottingham Forest defender Kenny Burns has hit out at Tom Lawrence after his dangerous tackle on Yuri Ribeiro in the East Midlands derby on Saturday.

The Reds emerged victorious from the game against their bitter rivals with Lewis Grabban getting the only goal of the game in the second half.

Despite the lack of goalmouth action, it was a good game for the neutral due to the ferocious pace it was played at and with the tackles flying in.

However, some of those challenges overstepped the mark, with Ryan Yates very fortunate to escape at least a booking for an early foul on Matt Clarke.

The worst incident came from Lawrence though, with the Welsh international going in with his studs up on Ribeiro and he caught him quite high up on the leg.

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And, writing in his Nottinghamshire Live column, Burns slammed the attacking midfielder for that.

"Tom Lawrence’s challenge on Ribeiro was an absolute disgrace and he should have been sent off for what was a cowardly tackle.

"He’d been getting plenty of abuse throughout the game from the crowd and his bright opening had started to fade away, so even if he was frustrated, there’s no excuse for that – he’s a very lucky boy."

The verdict

It's no surprise to see Burns criticising a Derby player but you have to say that he is completely correct with what he is saying here.

The foul on Ribeiro was late, high and very dangerous. Anyone who saw it will recognise that Lawrence was fortunate to stay on the pitch and thankfully the left-back didn't pick up an injury.

Although, Derby will argue that Yates should have been sent off as well in what was a fiery game.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.