Sam Allardyce said he could not defend Ashley Williams for the red-card offence which means he cannot face Albion.

The Everton defender was sent off late in a 2-1 defeat at Burnley and will be banned when the Seagulls go to Goodison next Saturday.

Everton's misery was complete in the 86th minute when captain Williams was shown a straight red for flinging an arm into the neck of ex-Albion striker Ashley Barnes, who had earlier scored.

Allardyce said he "can't defend" Williams, adding: "It was a silly thing to do, especially for such an experienced player."

The Everton boss shrugged off abuse from his own fans as his side slumped to a sixth consecutive away loss.

They took a 20th-minute lead thanks to Cenk Tosun's first goal in English football but Burnley fought back and, after Barnes equalised in the 56th minute, fellow ex-Seagull Chris Wood headed home from a corner to seal a 2-1 victory ten minutes from time.

Everton fans were vocal in their disapproval of two substitutions, first when Oumar Niasse replaced Tosun and then when Yannick Bolasie came on for Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Allardyce said: "It happens. Fans have what they consider a new guy coming in. My job is not what the fans are saying or not saying. What we want is the fans cheering us not booing you, of course, but I have to look at the situation.

"That's what you deal with as a manager, everybody has an opinion and I have to make the decisions and you hope they have an impact in a positive way."