Police were called after Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio was involved in a late-night altercation at a Hampshire hotel on Friday night.

Di Canio and two members of his staff were allegedly confronted by three drunk men, who tried to block their attempts to use the elevator at the Solent Hotel & Spa in Whiteley.

The Sunderland staff then pushed the men away, provoking a verbal attack.

Speaking after his side's 1-1 draw at St Mary's on Saturday, Di Canio told reporters his version of events.

"There were no footballers and no fight," he explained. "This is the real situation of what happened. It was three young drunk guys. We got into the lift and they were taking photos with their camera and stopped the lift.

"We weren't aggressive and they took advantage of the fact that we weren't aggressive. We pushed them away. They attacked us verbally. It was us who called the police. Two of the three ran away. One remained.

"The police arrived after about 15 or 20 minutes - and for two hours I was speaking to a policeman. I don't know if he loves me. I went to bed at 2am. I wanted to go at midnight."

No arrests were made at the scene, but officers are continuing to make enquiries.