IT is said that when you’re on the floor, that’s when people kick you.

My old team Reading are having a rough time of it at present. They’ve been struggling for points in the Championship since the opening day of the season and on Saturday they came very close to permanently losing their striker, Nelson Oliveira, to a face-stamp by on-loan Villa defender, Tyrone Mings.

6 Nelson Oliveira needed surgery after Tyrone Mings stamped on his face Credit: Twitter

Even more astonishing is the hollow apology via social media that followed, preceded I might add with how proud Mings was to wear the claret and blue of Aston Villa.

Mings is the same player that stamped on the back of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s head while playing for Bournemouth against Manchester United.

This time it disfigured the face of Oliveira.

Oliveira was extremely fortunate not to lose an eye in the incident, and his broken nose and deep cuts will be to many a strong indication that a player has stamped down on his opponent.

6 Oliveira is recovering at home after suffering a broken nose and nasty wounds Credit: Instagram

Absolutely loved wearing the claret and blue today and over the moon with the clean sheet! @AVFCOfficial Feel awfully sorry to Oliveira, I hope he is ok ❤️ #UTV pic.twitter.com/wCsa5ouNvW — Tyrone Mings (@OfficialTM_3) February 2, 2019

6 Mings tried to help Oliveira immediately after the clash Credit: Alamy Live News

Whatever Mings did or didn’t mean to do, if you haven’t yet seen the picture of Oliveira's face taken in the changing room shortly after the stamp, then take a look but, be warned, it isn’t pretty.

No wonder Eddie Howe has farmed the 25-year-old defender out on loan. His temperament is way out of sync with the way Bournemouth go about their business on the pitch, and may explain why Mings has only played 20 games for the Cherries in four years, despite a big money move from Ipswich.

A few people in the game that had seen the incident texted to ask me whether players can be sued for incidents on the pitch.

The short answer is yes – if a player can show it was negligent.

6 Kitson says Oliveira was lucky not to lose an eye Credit: Ian Whittaker - The Sun

6 Nelson Oliveira's wife Mel posted this photo and called for Tyrone Mings to be banned after his 'disgusting' stamp Credit: Instagram

Oliveira's facial injuries are, I guess, life-changing to a certain extent. OK, he has his mobility and can still play the game, but for the rest of his life, whenever he glances in the mirror, he’ll be reminded of that stamp and, mentally, that’s a horrible place to be.

Reading’s subsequent social media post on Monday evening was short and to the point. The club appears to be believe that its striker is the victim of a ridiculous loophole in the laws of the game.

Their post read: "As a club, we ensured that the referee and the FA were fully aware of an incident during Saturday's match which caused injury to our striker, Nelson Oliveira.

"But as the incident was seen by the ref at the time, we understand no retrospective action can or will be taken by the FA."

This is Mings’ second stamp. After stamping on the head of Ibrahimovic, his punishment was a five-game ban. Surely a full investigation and, if found guilty, a ten-game ban for the stamp on Oliveira should have been the minimum punishment this time round.

However, because the referee saw the incident, the FA cannot act for fear of undermining one of their own. And yet we now have VAR exactly because referees get decisions wrong - whether they’ve seen them or not. It stands to reason then that if referees get penalty claims wrong then they can also get stamps wrong.

As a club, we ensured that the referee & the FA were fully aware of an incident during Saturday’s match which caused injury to our striker, Nélson Oliveira. But as the incident was seen by the ref at the time, we understand no retrospective action can or will be taken by the FA. pic.twitter.com/AXYa8N9Rgg — Reading FC (@ReadingFC) February 4, 2019

6 Mings got a five-game ban for stamping on the head of Ibrahimovic back in 2017 Credit: Sky Sports

I never shied away from playing against tough opponents during my career.

Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, John Terry and Sol Campbell to name a few, were all physically tough and aggressive when they had to be. But they were also largely fair men that knew the boundary line wasn’t down the centre of an opponent’s face.

Hopefully Oliveira will recover from his horrific injuries very soon and score the goals that will help my old club stay up because I love going back to watch Reading.

But as with any club it’s always a far more enjoyable experience when the team is doing well and the fans are happy.

At the end of March I’m being inducted in to the club's hall of fame and that’s largely for our 2005/06 season in which we broke almost every landmark that had ever stood in the Championship.

We won the league with an incredible record of 106 points and, so far as I remember, we did it without having to stamp on a single person's face.