Masuaku '˜sorry' for Wigan Athletic spat

Arthur Masuaku was red-carded at the beginning of the second half of his side’s 2-0 defeat in the FA Cup fourth round.

Hammers manager David Moyes called Masuaku’s actions “despicable” and “totally unacceptable” in his post-match press conference, and pledged the player would be firmly dealt with.

Masuaku, who faces a lengthy ban, has attempted to build some bridges by expressing remorse for his actions, although he stopped short of mentioning Powell himself in his social media post

“I let down my team-mates, the manager, coaches, board and the fans,” tweeted Masuaku.

“I am very sad because the manager and coaches have put a lot of faith in me.

“But I will work very hard to win try and win that back.

“It was in the heat of the moment and out of character for me.

“But I know it was totally unacceptable and I will learn from the first red card of my career.”

Spitting carries a mandatory six-game suspension so Masuaku is now likely to be out until the middle of March.

That will further deplete a Hammers squad that may also be without Pedro Obiang for the foreseeable future after he came off with suspected medial ligament damage.

Moyes was already without eight senior players for this tie and he admitted he was stunned by Masuaku’s act.

“I’ve not seen it from him,” he added after the game.

“We’ve given him a game, played him all the time, tried to give him a chance, he wasn’t really in the team.

“We like him, he’s a really good boy around the club. I’ve enjoyed him so I’d have to say it is out of character. If you do that then you’re going to get the punishment in any walk of life.

“I just asked him, did he spit and he said, ‘Yes’. You can’t do that anywhere. We’ll deal with it appropriately.”