Thursday 20 September 2018 22:52, UK
Cardiff defender Joe Bennett faces a reunion with Leroy Sane on Saturday, admitting he was not proud of the tackle which left the Manchester City star injured last season.
Bennett's lunge on Sane in an FA Cup fourth-round tie in January left the Germany winger with ankle ligament damage and sparked a war of words between City boss Pep Guardiola and his Cardiff counterpart Neil Warnock.
The two clubs meet again in the Premier League on Saturday and Bennett, recalling the Sane incident, said: "I didn't realise how bad it was at the time.
"But, looking back at the pictures, it didn't look great. It was a bad tackle and it's something I wasn't proud of.
"I apologised for that and moved on quickly, but the criticism did hurt me personally."
Bennett escaped dismissal for his first-half challenge on Sane, but he was sent off in the final seconds for collecting a second yellow card.
Warnock said he reacted to the media storm after the cup tie by "slaughtering" Bennett and blamed the 28-year-old for giving him "three days of hell".
He also immediately signed another left-back, Armand Traore from Nottingham Forest, but Bennett would regain his first-team place as Cardiff clinched promotion to the Premier League.
"It has made me stronger as a player," Bennett said of the Sane tackle.
"I definitely improved as the season went on. Now I just want to stay in the team and do well for the manager."
