Borda was sent off in the half hour mark when referee Alan Milliner spotted the Spaniard raising his arm in Fornaroli’s face in Friday's 1-0 loss to Melbourne City.

The 32-year-old now has two red cards to his name this season after being dismissed in the Round One 4-0 loss to Sydney FC and will now be absent for next week’s second derby.

Popovic had suspicions the Uruguayan might have provoked his counterpart.

“There was something there, I had a quick look and there was a reaction to something,” Popovic said.

“I don’t know if something happened prior to what the referee saw but it was certainly out of character for Aritz.

“I don’t know (what happened), I haven’t spoken to Aritz about it. Just having a look quickly now, I saw his arms up, something happened and I was surprised…

Borda bemused after being dismissed by Milliner

“I wasn’t sure if anything happened but now that I’ve seen it, I’m surprised because it’s definitely out of character for Aritz to be involved in something off the ball.

“At the moment it’s about this game and just disappointed for the group to put in such an effort and get nothing.”

The Wanderers endured its fourth loss of the season and sit sixth on the A-League table facing an undefeated Sky Blues outfit next week.

Popovic was positive about his team’s second half reaction against City and was pleased with youngster Lachie Scott who almost equalised with minutes remaining.

Popovic maintains good performances do not reflect his team's table position

He also praised debutant goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic who was touch-and-go before the game.

“There isn’t much more I can ask from the players, when you go down to 10-men away from home, 1-0 down and up until the 90th minute I don’t think Vedran had a save to make,” he said.

“I felt they would crack for the whole second half, we always looked dangerous when we were around the box.

“(Janjetovic) made a very good one at the end. Up until then I felt we would get a chance and get a goal, we had some opportunities there but couldn’t put it away.”