Sent off shotstopper Joe Murphy was down after Saturday's 4-1 loss at Blackpool but says referee Colin Webster was right to show him a red card.

With the scores locked at 1-1, the Iron's No. 1 was given his marching orders after saving a Hameur Bouazza shot outside his penalty area.

Down to ten men, Scunthorpe went on to concede three more goals against an in-form Seasiders team.

Speaking on The Iron Player, he said: "To be fair, the sending off was a sending off.

"I tried to get away with it by holding my face. The referee didn't see it but the linesman did.

"I was disappointed but even more disappointed they scored straight away.

"If you can hold on for 15 minutes you have a real chance of getting something out of the game.

"But once they scored a second and then a third it was all over for us."

Sam Slocombe came on for his league debut and Murphy feels the former Bottesford Town shotstopper will grow stronger from the experience.

He said: "It was Sam's first league appearance. It wasn't the best conditions and to get chucked in during a situation like that can be hard.

"It happened to me when I was a kid too.

"He would have enjoyed it though, maybe not being on the losing side, but now he can say he has played league football."

Murphy will now join the Republic of Ireland squad for their two-legged World Cup qualifying play-off against France, and could be set to feature on the bench as understudy to Shay Given after Coventry's Keiren Westwood withdrew from the squad.

See more from Joe Murphy on The Iron Player.