GRAVESEND & Northfleet manager Andy Ford expects to hear from the Football Association following remarks made to one of the referee's assistants during Saturday's FA Cup tie defeat against Margate when he was banished to the stand.

"If the FA are looking for a record of misconduct next to my name they won't find one," he said. "But I found it impossible to hold back after what I thought was a serious mistake which has cost this club dear."

Ford confessed that he was wrong to play Robert Owen and Mark Bentley against Margate.

"I greatly regret it," he stressed. "I put Mark on the bench never dreaming we would have to call on him so early in the game after Paul Sturgess had to go off.

"Rob came on for Hamed Barr and now he is likely to be out for a further six weeks with a recurrence of hamstring trouble."