Charlie Austin has criticised Queens Park Rangers teammate Joey Barton for his "silly sending-off" in Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Hull City.
Rangers' survival bid suffered a blow when Dame N'Doye headed home a last-minute winner to settle the relegation six-pointer at the KC Stadium.
Chris Ramsey's side were forced to play over an hour with a numerical disadvantage after Barton was dismissed for aiming a low blow at Tom Huddlestone, with Hull already leading 1-0.
Barton will now miss the next three games, and Austin - who equalised for 10-man QPR - says that his captain's behaviour is hindering the team in their relegation battle.
"I think he just went over to protect Darnell but it's a silly sending-off," he told Sky Sports News. "It's kind of cost us the game. He's the villain and rightly so for getting sent off. He's got to deal with it.
"He's going to miss the next three games and he's an important player for us, he's our captain.
"He's just held his hands up and said sorry...There's only so many times you can say sorry. We move on now, we've got a squad and that's the main thing."
The West Londoners sit 17th in the Premier League table, ahead of 18th-placed Burnley on goal difference.
Shane Callaghan
