Ashley Williams said goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey was unlucky to see red for his late challenge in Wales’ 2-0 defeat to Iran.
Referee Mario Escobar initially drew a yellow card for the keeper’s challenge on forward Medhi Taremi, but changed the decision to a straight red after a brief VAR check.
The former Wales captain said on BBC1: “Wayne’s just unlucky. He’s come out because the defensive line is so high.
“Wayne Hennessey is committed to clearing up behind his defenders and the ref gets the yellow out straight away in real time.
“It’s just unlucky. He does catch him and it’s dangerous play, but we’ve seen a lot of dangerous play today that wasn’t even a foul.”
Following the loss, they sit alone at the bottom of Group B, with their only hope of reaching the knockouts resting on a win in their home nation clash against England on Tuesday.
Despite sitting on one point and seeing their tournament lives in jeopardy, Williams believes the nation has done enough to make their fans proud.
He said: “We said at the start of the World Cup that – as a nation and as the fans – we’re humble enough and proud enough of the team that they made it here to the World Cup.
“Regardless of what happened, it’s not all doom and gloom. We go into the England game trying to put on a good performance and work as hard as we did today.
“And I think everybody – when they go home – will go home proud anyway.”
