Joey Barton hit the floor after tangling with Gervinho © PA Photos Enlarge

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Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton has admitted he regrets his conduct during a spat with Gervinho that saw the Arsenal star red-carded in the 0-0 draw at St James' Park.

Gervinho went down in the box following a collision with Cheik Tiote and, after unsuccessfully appealing for a penalty, was hauled to his feet by Barton, who accused him of diving.

The Ivory Coast international took offence to being dragged up by his shirt, responding by slapping Barton in the face and watching as the Newcastle midfielder writhed around on the floor.

Now Barton, who has argued about the incident with Jack Wilshere on Twitter, has confessed that he exaggerated the severity of the incident.

He told BBC Radio Five Live: "I take responsibility for my actions and I shouldn't have gone over and lifted Gervinho up by his shirt, that's not the correct thing to do. I should have let the referee handle it. I can't take responsibility for what Gervinho did. I did go down easily, I've been hit harder by people at school, but that's not to make what he did right. He raised his hands, we all know the rules about that. I have made a meal of it.

"I pulled him from the floor because I felt he was trying to cheat me, my team-mates and my football club out of a point - a point that could be massive for us at the end of the season. He's actually struck me in the face, and my issue is, if I don't go down, and it's clear the officials didn't see what went on exactly. If I don't go down and he doesn't get sent off, I'm making my own team suffer."

Barton also retracted his comments about Gervinho cheating when he went to ground in the area.

"There's a fine line," he said. "For me, diving and trying to con a ref is cheating. I said what I said about Gervinho prior to seeing the numerous replays. I have to take back blatantly calling him a cheat. I thought he'd fully dived, but I still think he's going in hoping to get a pen but the ref knew what he was up to."

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