WREXHAM defender Steve Evans yesterday broke his silence on last Saturday’s “moment of madness” which saw him sent off and subsequently hit by a four-match ban.

The 27-year old centre-back was shown a straight red card after 22 minutes of the game at Boston United after he lashed out at opponent Drewe Broughton in retaliation for a reckless challenge by the home side’s striker.

And the automatic three-match ban he incurred was extended because Evans had previously been sent off this season, when he received two yellow cards in the derby with Chester City at the Deva Stadium.

Now sidelined until New Year’s Day, Evans said: “I am absolutely gutted and I’m very disappointed with myself because I have let down the manager, all the other players and the fans and I want to apologise to everyone.

“I believe I’ve been having a half-decent season up to now and what happened on Saturday was a moment of madness. Even now I can’t explain what made me do it because, to be fair, it’s totally out of character.

“I don’t normally do things like that and in the face of provocation I have tended to pick myself up and just get on with the game.

“Even though I was the victim of a very bad challenge – which I know is no excuse – it was my reaction that captured the attention of the referee and deflected it away from their lad, who was only booked.

“I haven’t seen any television replays, but everyone who has says he should have been sent off as well, so it’s been a very hard lesson for me and one which I aim to learn from.”

The ban takes effect from tomorrow, meaning Evans will miss all of Wrexham’s Christmas games and leaves manager Denis Smith with a huge gap to fill in a side battling against being drawn into a relegation dogfight.

“It’s a busy period coming up and hopefully the lads will get the results we need,” added Evans. “I never like missing matches for any reason and the fact that this spell is self-inflicted makes it all the harder.

“But I’ve got to get on with it, which means not brooding about what has happened but working as hard as I can in training, particularly over Christmas, so that when I’m allowed to play again I will come back raring to go.”

The defensive dilemma ahead of tomorrow’s visit by league leaders Walsall to the Racecourse is another unwanted problem for Dragons boss Smith, who will also be without key midfielder Mark Jones and is sweating on the fitness of striker Kevin Smith.

“Kevin’s chances look bleaker this morning than they did yesterday,” he admitted. “But we’ll have a look in the morning before deciding whether we possibly need to try and change the system.

“Lee McEvilly has trained again, but he’s only fit enough for the bench, and we can’t keep complaining about the injury problems.”