Sampdoria coach Sinisa Mihajlovic has explained his angry confrontation with Vasco Regini at the end of Tuesday's derby draw with Genoa, saying he was furious that the player gave away a late free-kick which could have cost his side a point.
Mihajlovic, 46, raced from his dugout at the final whistle of the 1-1 draw to reprimand his own defender, and had to be pulled away by other Sampdoria players as the pair appeared to almost come to blows.
"The fact that it was a derby did not come into it," Mihajlovic told Sky Sport Italia. "When a player has his back to goal, he mustn't commit fouls like this. I was sorry that we could have lost a very hard-fought derby which both sides wanted to win.
"We wasted huge chances with [Stefano] Okaka and [Pedro] Obiang, but I can't get angry with a player who misses a goal or a pass.
"What I cannot accept, on the other hand, is when he has the wrong attitude. I could see it written that we were going to concede that way. How lucky we are to have [goalkeeper Emiliano] Viviano who made a great save."
The draw in the Derby della Lanterna kept both sides locked together in sixth and seventh in Serie A with Mihajlovic's men ahead of their rivals on the head-to-head record.
Apart from Regini's late transgression, Mihajlovic was otherwise pleased with his side's performance in the rearranged Serie A fixture.
The Serbian coach added: "I'm pleased with the way we presented ourselves against a Genoa side who are in better shape than we are.
"We've not been able to show our potential for months now, but we did it tonight."