Hannibal Mejbri came close to a red card for Birmingham City (PA)
Birmingham City manager John Eustace has warned Manchester United’s on-loan midfielder Hannibal Mejbri about his ill-discipline on the pitch after he came close to a red card on Friday evening.
The 19-year-old, who is spending the season on loan with the Championship club, was booked after just seven minutes in Birmingham’s 2-0 win over QPR at St Andrew’s.
Mejbri, who was told to keep his cool by the manager at half time, committed three more fouls after his yellow card and was substituted in the 54th minute shortly after he brought down fellow United loanee Ethan Laird.
‘I was contemplating bringing him off at half-time, if I am going to be honest,’ Eustace said.
‘I spoke to him, spoke to the staff and he assured me he’d be okay. I think it lasted about four minutes.
Hannibal Mejbri has got to realise the importance of managing games, says Birmingham City manager John Eustace (Getty)
‘It’s something we have got to watch but he plays on the edge, that’s why he’s so good, a top player.
‘I am certainly not going to stop him from doing what he does but he has to realise the importance of managing the games at times.
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‘He didn’t get sent off so it makes no difference to me, we brought him off because he was running the risk and that’s it.
‘He might have got sent off on another day and when he made that tackle I thought, ‘I have got to get him off’.’
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‘I spoke to him, spoke to the staff and he assured me he’d be okay. I think it lasted about four minutes.’