Sheffield United defender Max Lowe admitted he was taking stick from his team-mates for coming out on the losing side of a touchline scuffle with Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson.
The pair clashed midway through the second half of Palace’s 1-0 opening day win when Hodgson stopped Lowe from retrieving the ball in the dugout, with the Blades left-back appearing to shove the 76-year-old in the midriff.
They both laughed off the exchange shortly after, but Lowe was not allowed to forget it in the dressing room.
‘His abs are stronger than I thought, obviously,’ Lowe said after the game. ‘All the boys are laughing and saying, ‘That’s 1-0 to Roy’.
![Sheffield United's Max Lowe was given stick by team-mates after clashing with Roy Hodgson](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/13/11/74249239-0-Roy_Hodgson_was_involed_in_a_touchline_altercation_with_Sheffiel-a-77_1691921863008.jpg)
Sheffield United’s Max Lowe was given stick by team-mates after clashing with Roy Hodgson
![Lowe was involved in a touchline altercation with Palace manager Hodgson at Bramall Lane](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/13/11/74265487-12402057-image-a-96_1691922029960.jpg)
Lowe was involved in a touchline altercation with Palace manager Hodgson at Bramall Lane
‘I’ll leave it at that!
‘I felt terrible afterwards when I realised.
‘In the heat of the moment I forgot where I was and I felt awful at the end of it. I thought he was going to pull me up at the end of the game and I was thinking, ‘Please don’t come over to me now’.
‘To be honest I thought it was our ball – there are obviously no hard feelings.’
Hodgson joked after the game that he had surprised himself with his reaction and Lowe was also shocked to be tussling with a man 50 years his senior.
‘I didn’t (expect it) either,’ he said. ‘So I was a bit shocked.
‘I don’t know if you saw my reaction? I was laughing at the time … but Roy wasn’t laughing.
‘Fair play to him, it was a competitive game and you could see that reflected by both teams on the pitch.’
![Palace striker Odsonne Edouard says that his goal in his side's victory will help his confidence](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/13/11/74265503-12402057-image-a-97_1691922071522.jpg)
Palace striker Odsonne Edouard says that his goal in his side’s victory will help his confidence
Odsonne Edouard’s second-half goal decided the game at Bramall Lane as Palace got off to a winning start.
The former Celtic striker only scored five times in the league last season but wants to do much better this time around.
He said on Palace’s website: ‘It was the first game, and we worked very hard to win the first game. I think we dominated the game. We should score more goals but it is good for the next few games.
‘I’m a striker, so my target is to score goals for the team and I hope I will do this to help the team. It is good for the confidence as a forward.
‘We have a good team, we have to work hard and today we win and we proved we have a good squad.
‘It’s just the start of the season. There are 37 games coming, so we will see.’