Rajiv van La Parra: I was wrong to storm off

Wolves winger Rajiv van La Parra knows he was wrong to storm down the tunnel after being substituted against Sheffield Wednesday.

The flying Dutchman reacted angrily to being taken off in the 53rd minute of the 3-0 win against the Owls 10 days ago.

But the move proved a masterstroke from head coach Kenny Jackett, as Benik Afobe and Van La Parra's replacement James Henry scored the goals to make the score-line more comfortable.

The 23-year-old stopped short of an apology for his actions against Wednesday, but confessed he acted wrongly.

He said: "My reaction after coming off was not good to go straight inside. Sometimes, footballers find it hard because we have a lot of emotion on the pitch.

"In certain situations you react very quickly and it can take only seconds to think about things. But I think everyone who knows me will know there was no bad meaning meant by it.

"I was just disappointed because I want to do well for the team and we have the same ambition – to get to the Premier League.

"It would have been a better and more positive reaction to sit on the bench but I didn't do the right thing in that moment. That can happen."

Van La Parra hopes the fans have forgiven him and believes he made up for it with his performance against Derby County.

The roles were reversed and he replaced Henry, playing a part in his side's second goal.

He said: "Hopefully, everyone knows I'm a good person and didn't mean anything bad by it.

"I wanted to do well in the next game when I came on to show people I'm still trying to do well and it was great for me to hear the fans singing my name like they were before."

Jackett added: "He was disappointed to come off. But James Henry gave us a few more tackles when we were a bit deep and needed to win the ball in midfield and push up, as well as a fantastic third goal."

[comments_cta header="What do you think?" text="Should Rajiv van La Parra have apologised for his actions?'" button="Log in and start commenting"]