Micah Richards has apologised for his shirt-throwing tantrum at Reading on Monday.

The teenage defender lost his temper with Manchester City boss Stuart Pearce when he was hauled off during the Blues' 1-0 defeat at the Madejski Stadium, hurling his shirt out of the dug-out, then following up with a volley of abuse. Eventually, Richards was calmed down by veteran striker Paul Dickov, who was taken off at the same time.

"Micah made a bee-line to see me and apologised for his behaviour, which is fine by me," Pearce told www.mcfc.co.uk. "There is no problem. He had the hump about being taken off but he has come in, apologised and told me he was totally wrong."