Muscat has admitted he provoked Akoto throughout the game and made the most of the contact which saw him fall to the ground in the 82nd minute. It's the nature of that provocation that the Fury want to get to the bottom of.

McLaren said the club will sit down with Akoto over the next few days to determine what exactly was said and whether there was any cause for the matter to be taken to the FFA Match
Review Panel.

"From what we understand, there's been a certain amount of provocation. Obviously we are not little schoolboys. That goes on on the pitch and some people are better at it than others. What's exactly been said, we'll have to get to the bottom of," he said.

"It would have taken a fair bit for him to react like that, because he's a fairly cool, calm and collected customer as a personality. His level of experiences as well, he's been in a lot more difficult circumstances than he had been today across his career."

Akoto was livid at both Muscat and referee Chris Boyle's decision to send him off and in the end had to be led off the pitch by coach Franz Straka after refusing to leave the field of play.

"At this stage, there has been something been said there that has provoked a reaction, a sizable reaction, enough to warrant a sending off from a player that, with his character and his level of experience, normally wouldn't react like that," McLaren said.

Muscat anticipated that his behaviour would be scrutinised, but got on the front foot, saying that he had not crossed the line with his baiting of Akoto.

"I was having a bit of banter with him right throughout the game. He kept kicking the ball out and
I kept reminding him about it. He reacted," Muscat said.

"He will go around making stories up and accusations just because he's got himself sent off. As far as I'm concerned he deserved to be sent off and that's it, finished."

Neither McLaren nor Muscat would elaborate on the accusations made by Akoto and McLaren said it might take a day or two to determine what action if any, his club would take.

"What's exactly has been said, when passions are running high after a game like that, it's hard to sort through the mist and see it clearly. Before we release any kind of statement or comment, we'll have to make sure we are clear what has been said. Before we make any false accusations or before we realise what could be the seriousness of the matter." he said.

"Once we get away from here, we'll sit down with Eric and as best you can go through it piece by piece from when the penalty was awarded. We'll piece together what has been said, which of other players were close by and may have heard something. Based on that we'll determine what action, if any needs to be taken."

Muscat was left baffled by the decision to award the Fury a penalty in the lead-up to the incident with Akoto, with Diogo Ferreira ruled to have held Mark Hughes at a corner before the ball was in play.

"It's the first time it's happened since the 60s," the Victory skipper said. "It was staggering. It's the first time I have been involved in a game where a corner kick is about to be taken and instead of defending a corner, you are defending a penalty."

But McLaren said that Boyle should be congratulated for having the strength to award a penalty in those circumstances.

"He had already warned them once. Then when it went in second time, one of them has pushed or got a hold of our lad and impeded him and I'll credit the referee for giving the penalty. We see it in modern football all the time and it goes unpunished," he said.