Ben Haim hits out at Styles

Tal Ben Haim believes he was lucky to escape injury after Michael Essien's horror tackle.

The Israeli international was the victim of a late, over the ball challenge by Essien during Bolton's 5-1 defeat at Chelsea.

The Ghanaian midfielder somehow escaped a red card with referee Rob Styles only brandishing a yellow card for the offence.

Ben Haim believes Styles got it terribly wrong in not sending off Essien and is just relieved not to have sustained a serious injury from the challenge.

"I was sure he should have been given a red card," said Ben Haim. "But the referee makes mistakes sometimes and, unfortunately, that went against us.

"I got up so quickly because I wanted to see if I could stand on my feet because I was so shocked by the tackle.

"It was a strong tackle to the bone, so I wanted to make sure I was okay, even though I had very much pain.

"I wanted to make sure I could walk and that I didn't have any serious damage, so I jumped up instantly.

"Maybe that saved him, but it's history now and it's not the referee's fault that we lost or that we conceded five goals - four in 10 minutes - after a fantastic first half. I can't explain why it happened, maybe losing Gary Speed in the middle changed the game a bit."

Essien seems likely to face a ban for the tackle with The Football Association expected to look into the incident.