MIDDLESBROUGH and Birmingham City have both received FA charges in the wake of the touchline fracas that blighted the closing stages of Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at the Riverside – but Leo Percovich insists he has no regrets over “defending my club”.

The FA charged Boro and Birmingham with a failure to ensure their officials and players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion in the wake of Tuesday’s brawl, which was sparked by referee Andy Woolmer’s initial reluctance to stop play when Marcus Tavernier was lying on the floor with a head injury.

Percovich, Boro’s first-team coach, received a red card along with Birmingham’s head of performance, Sean Rush, with the FA subsequently charging the duo with improper conduct.

Both Percovich and Boro have until Tuesday to respond to the charges, with the Boro coach adamant he will not be apologising for stepping in to protect Tavernier’s interests and defend the rest of the Teessiders’ squad.

“Passion is part of who I am,” said Percovich. “I feel like I was pushed to the limit, seeing real disrespect from the other manager and his coaches. I can’t allow that to pass.

“Maybe I could have found a different way to approach things, but at that moment, when I felt disrespect towards me, my club and my team, I had to act. I do not regret that, and would always act to defend Middlesbrough in the future.”

Tavernier’s injury proved to be superficial, but Percovich insists there was no way of knowing the extent of the midfielder’s issues as he lay prone on the floor.

“Nobody knew what had happened,” he said. “People are saying now, ‘Ah, nothing happened’, but you didn’t know that at the time because he did not move. You could see his head had been hit, and he didn’t twist or raise him arm or anything. Then you started to see their goalkeeper calling for the assistant.

“You thought, ‘Wow, this is serious’, but the game kept playing on."