Littlejohn abuse after Cain incident 'disgusting'

Republic of Ireland manager Carla Ward says abuse directed towards midfielder Ruesha Littlejohn has been "disgusting" and a "disgrace".

Littlejohn was sent off during Crystal Palace's League Cup win over Leicester City on Sunday after a second-half altercation with Hannah Cain.

The 35-year-old appeared to grab Cain by the neck and the players fell to the ground.

The Football Association said its standard three-match ban for violent conduct was "clearly insufficient", and it can seek an extended punishment if a case is "truly exceptional".

Speaking before the Republic of Ireland's behind-closed-doors friendly with Hungary in Spain on Saturday, Ward said the "outpouring of abuse" directed towards Littlejohn on social media had been "a disgrace".

"She is a human being," said Ward, who previously managed Littlejohn at Aston Villa and Birmingham City. "She's someone's daughter and sister. It's not OK.

"I look at Ruesha - and it's not just because I've got a long-standing relationship with her. Some of the stuff I've seen this week has been disgusting."

Ward said social media was getting "worse and worse", and she did not know how the problem could be rectified.

"I just hope that when my daughter grows up it disappears," she said. "I think it is a vile place.

"Organisations need to help and social media [companies] need to do better. Do I think it's going away? No, I think it's only going to get worse."

In her passionate response, Ward referenced how she had lost two close friends in the game.

While working at Sheffield United, Ward managed Maddy Cusack, who died aged 27 in 2023. She also knew former Liverpool manager Matt Beard, who died aged 47 earlier this year.

'I regret letting my emotions spill over'

Ruesha Littlejohn has won 93 Republic of Ireland caps and played at the 2023 World Cup in Australia

Littlejohn, who was speaking alongside Ward at the news conference, said she "regretted" the incident with Wales international Cain.

The midfielder had until Thursday to respond to the FA's charge of violent conduct and is set to discover the outcome of the disciplinary hearing in the coming days.

"Obviously I regret letting my emotions spill over on the pitch," she said. "I'm quite an emotional person and player.

"That's not who I want to be on the pitch, so I will learn from it and move forward.

"Obviously I've been working with my team and hopefully it's all dealt with properly and it's fairly dealt with, but I can't say too much on that right now. I don't want to harm the process."

On the charge from the FA and how she responded Littlejohn said: "It's being dealt with. We sent a response [to the FA] and I'm not sure when we'll find out the outcome, hopefully in the next couple of days."

"I accept by the letter of the law, I've put my hands on Hannah Cain and therefore it's a red card. But I definitely wasn't intending to cause any harm to the player so we'll be contesting it if it is going to be any more than three games."

"I hadn't reached out to Hannah myself. I'd thought about it, but then I thought lets' go down the right channels with everything. I knew she came back on the pitch and played the rest of the game, and I knew she travelled with her national team, so we're happy she's fit and healthy"

Littlejohn added she was thankful to head on international duty after the game and has done her best to avoid social media and commentary surrounding the incident.

"I'm surrounded by good people here," she added. "They have helped me through a tough week and it's nice to be back in green with the girls.

"I've had a lot of support. I've had a strong group of people behind me, so it's been good that a lot of them have checked in with me. That's been nice and I've just stayed off social media.

"It can be hard because it's coming thick and fast. But I'm a strong character, a strong person, and I'm surrounded by a strong team, so we'll be OK."

Ward added Littlejohn was someone she had "admired" during their time working together and was "someone who wears her heart on her sleeve".

"She has acknowledged it was a moment that she deeply regrets," said Ward.

"We're not talking about defending the incident here. We're talking about what follows and we need to do more to protect players.

"They are human beings and they need looking after."