Chelsea striker Diego Costa accepted he was "no angel" but insisted he had not done anything wrong in the incident that led to him receiving a three-match ban.
The 26-year-old was suspended for three games by the Football Association, after being found guilty of violent conduct when it was ruled he had deliberately stamped on the ankle of Liverpool’s Emre Can during Chelsea’s League Cup semi-final leg victory on Tuesday.
Costa, who was hit with an immediate three-game ban by the FA on Friday and so missed Premier League leaders Chelsea's 1-1 draw with second-placed champions Manchester City on Saturday, said he accepted the punishment.
But he insisted he did not mean to injure Can.
"As far as what happened on Tuesday, the main thing is when I get home I can go to sleep knowing that I've not done anything wrong, because I never meant to do that and it was not on purpose," he told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
“And you can clearly see that on the video. But it is a suspension. Obviously I feel sad because I’m not going to be able to help the team, to play. But I have accept it and respect it.”
The Brazil-born forward added: “I’m not saying I’m an angel. I’m no angel. You can see that.
“But every time I play I will play the same way because that’s the way I am.
“That’s what I need to do in order to support my family. That’s my bread and butter. Also, that’s what I need to do for this club, for the fans and for all the people involved in this club.
“On the pitch I will always be like that. That’s my character and I will always compete and compete – always. I’m a different guy off the pitch, as you can see, but on the pitch I will not change.
“And I want to say this again: you can look at the video and interpret it however you want, but I know when I get home I can sleep in peace because I know I didn’t mean to do it.”
Costa and Chelsea have no right of appeal, which means that, as well as the Manchester City match, he will also miss the upcoming fixtures with Aston Villa and Everton.
The likes of former Manchester United and England full-back Gary Neville have praised Costa as a throw-back to the days of the rugged centre-forward once common in English football.
Costa himself said he regretted how football had become a less physical game but the former Atletico Madrid front man insisted he would not, as Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini advised, change his approach.
“I’m always loyal, I always go 100 per cent, I always go on the limit but I think the people that think that I am a violent player, it’s because they interpret football a different way; they see it in a different way,” he said.
“Back in the old days there used to be way more contact and a lot of things that were permitted. These days everyone is looking at it and I don’t think that is good for the game,” Costa added.
“I have a go at defenders and they have a go at me. We argue. Whatever happens on the pitch stays on the pitch.
“After the game I shake hands with the defender. Job done, I go home, he goes home. We’re all mates. It’s all good. That’s how I see football. That’s how I play football. I’m not going to change it – football is a contact sport.”
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