SAINTS manager Ralph Hasenhuttl feels he may have been “misunderstood” after being charged by the Football Association over his comments about video assistant referee Mike Dean.

Hasenhuttl was unhappy following the dismissal of captain James Ward-Prowse during Saints' 3-1 defeat to Chelsea earlier this month.

Midfielder Ward-Prowse was initially shown a yellow card by referee Martin Atkinson for a late tackle on Jorginho at Stamford Bridge, but it was upgraded to red after Dean told his colleague to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.

Hasenhuttl was charged on Thursday and has until Tuesday to respond.

Asked if he plans to appeal the charge, Hasenhuttl said: "We have a personal hearing next week.

"Maybe they misunderstood me, or the media misunderstood me. We will talk about that.

"What can I say? In general I am a manager that is very respectful to the referees all the time.

"The way I wanted to argue about it was not a negative way, because we accept the red card.

"We did not decline the red card. I was not speaking bad about Mike Dean. But let us discuss this internally and then we will see."

Ward-Prowse’s red card came in the 77th minute of the match on October 2, with the score at 1-1, before Chelsea scored twice against 10 men to seal victory.

An FA statement read: “It is alleged that comments made by the manager during two post-match interviews constitute improper conduct in that they questioned the integrity of the VAR match official and/or implied bias and/or bring the game into disrepute.”