Southampton midfielder David Prutton has been charged with two counts of improper conduct by the Football Association.

Prutton reacted angrily after being sent off in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal on Saturday after receiving a second caution, and it his reaction to the dismissal which has seen him charged by the FA.

The first charge is in relation to his failure to leave the field of play promptly and “his attempt to remonstrate with the assistant referee, during which he pushed the referee on at least one occasion”, read a statement on the FA website, www.thefa.com.

The second charge relates to “his threatening words and/or behaviour towards a match official”.

Prutton has until 6pm tomorrow to respond before an FA disciplinary commission meets on Wednesday.

Prutton today apologised for his actions, which saw him shove referee Alan Wiley in an attempt to confront his assistant Paul Norman.

Prutton had to be dragged away by manager Harry Redknapp after clearly losing his cool following the dismissal, which was made following a dangerous challenge on Arsenal winger Robert Pires.

Pires could take no further part in the game after the incident late in the first half and was carried off on a stretcher. He now faces three games out injured.

Prutton said earlier: “I realise I was completely stupid. The reaction you get off your family and friends afterwards tells you that. Hopefully, I’ll learn from it.

“I’m not proud of what I did at all but it is still hard to explain. It was one of those moments when you seem to lose all control.

“I was angry with the linesman who I felt had missed a few things before that and I was heading for him, shouting and swearing. I didn’t even know it was the ref I was pushing out of the way.

“I’ve got to apologise to the referee and, definitely, the linesman plus the people who sat in the first few rows of the stand and heard what I was saying.

“And I have to apologise as well to Arsenal’s Robert Pires. I just didn’t realise at the time how bad my tackle on him for the second booking was. I never intended to hurt him. Ideally I want to send these apologies in writing.”

Prutton admits he lost control after being shown the red card by Wiley and accepts he will be punished.

He told Sky Sports News: “I haven’t got a leg to stand on. I’ve looked at it, I’ve thought about it and I’ve read about it.

“It’s an horrendous situation which I’ve never found myself in before and, hopefully, never will again.

“I remember before and after. Sometimes you just react to things beyond control. That was beyond control, I was a bit frustrated. The feeling when you are sent off is you are totally useless to the team.”

Saints boss Harry Redknapp said Prutton was sorry for an outburst he described as out of character and would learn from it.

“David knows my views,” Redknapp said. “I called him stupid on Saturday and he was, but he is not a bad young fella.

“He always gives 100% and he’s just got to learn to ease back sometimes. He should think more.

" His first tackle on the boy (Mathieu) Flamini was bad enough but he didn’t take care afterwards.

“He went into the game on Saturday with nine bookings and he has to do something about his record but when the FA hearing is called I will go up to wherever it is with him if I can and be a character witness.”

Redknapp added on Sky Sports News: “I’ve never seen anyone so low as he was after the match.

"He’s very sorry for the way he behaved. He’s made a big mistake but we all mistakes. Now he has to take his punishment and then we move on.”

Prutton is ruled out of tomorrow night’s FA cup fifth round replay at League One Brentford and Redknapp must make wholesale changes in midfield as son Jamie has a knee problem, Graeme Le Saux has flu symptoms and recent signing Nigel Quashie is cup-tied.