Troy Deeney says Nicolas Pepe’s head butt which got him sent off against Leeds united was an ‘act of stupidity’.

The Ivorian was sent off eight minutes into the second half for hitting Ezgjan Alioski after a poor performance by Arteta’s side who were dominated by Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United at Elland Road.

Pepe during the international break revealed his discomfort at the dearth of playing time under Arteta in the league. He was in the squad for his second league start of the season and having encountered Alioski in series of tackles, the frustration of the participant brought about a loss of mood to blow out the Macedonian.

Arteta expressed annoyance at the club’s costly signing for letting down the rest of the squad yet Deeney on Monday’s talkSPORT breakfast believes he's unfulfilled for failing to live up to his club-record £72 million price tag.

“I probably would have laid into him for that,” said Deeney on Monday’s talkSPORT Breakfast.

“He’s let them down. It was an act of stupidity.

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“And, when I looked at it, when he was walking off it looked like he wasn’t bothered.

“It looked like he made a mistake, shrugged, sighed and walked off.

“I want to see more emotion. If you’ve gone to headbutt someone naturally you’re frustrated, so there should be some form of anger there, but he just looked very calm, placid, a bit lost.

“He’s having a tough time, he hasn’t lived up to the price tag and the quality he undoubtedly has, because you don’t spend that much money on a whim, and you can see he’s talented.

“To me, he looked a bit like: ‘What’s the worst than can happen?’”