IF the 9pm watershed was rigorously enforced in homes across Britain, Ade Akinbiyi probably wouldn't have felt so guilty about his bizarre Burnley debut.

But it's unlikely many youngsters who watched the Friday night clash between the Clarets and Sunderland on March 4 would have been made to turn their TVs off when the cut-off point for x-rated material ticked round.

After all, the game was only in the early stages of the second half and well poised at 1-0 to the Championship-chasing Black Cats.

Then came the moment when Akinbiyi hoped the young audience were tucked up in bed as he was sent from the fray a mere three minutes after entering it as Burnley's new £600,000 striker.

And it's the thought of the kids watching, including his own 10-year-old son, that has given him the most reason to regret his lunge at George McCartney, which involved an elbow, head-butt and grabbing the Sunderland defender by the throat.

With more than two weeks to ponder them, Akinbiyi is still at something of a loss to explain his actions, but he has admitted that McCartney felt the force of some pent-up anger.

A groin injury and contract dispute with Stoke, which eventually led to his sale, ruled him out of action for six weeks leading up to his ill-fated substitute appearance.

Akinbiyi said: "I've had a lot of frustration and it was a heat of the moment thing. As soon as I did it I couldn't believe what I'd done

"I did it at the wrong time, it was on TV when kids, including my own son, will have been watching.

"So it wasn't a particularly good time to do it for that reason and that's what I'm most disappointed about.

"I feel like I let everyone down by getting sent off. I came into the Sunderland game when we were looking like getting back into it, but I got sent off and we went on to lose the game from there.

"But the manager has helped me deal with it and he's been good to me. He has played football as well and he knows the circumstances when you lose your head.

"But it's done now and I've just got to get on with it."

With a line drawn under that false start, Akinbiyi finally sprang from the starting blocks on Saturday when he scored in his first full game for the Clarets.

It was a scrappy effort six minutes from the end of the game at Sheffield United and was no more than a consolation in the 2-1 defeat but it put him back in Burnley's good books.

Akinbiyi added: "I got a lucky goal. Their keeper got wrong-footed because he thought I was sending him the other way but it went straight down the middle, so that's a good start for me.

"In the first half I thought I did okay but the second half I was quite disappointed with. It was maybe due to my fitness because I've not even had a reserve game and I tried to get through 90 minutes after two months not playing.

"We're going away for a break and I'm going to use it to do some work. I've got a bit of time to do some more running because I do believe I've got a lot to catch up on."

Although the timing of his red card in the previous outing couldn't have been worse, Akinbiyi showed it had improved somewhat when he hit the net at Bramall Lane.

It came at a point when the Blades fans were taunting him for turning them down in favour of the Clarets, so the goal was the perfect way to shut them up.

But laid-back Akinbiyi was taking it all in his stride, an approach which probably helped him compose himself when Ian Moore's pull-back gave him the chance to score.

"If I had signed for Sheffield United and played against Burnley I'd have got stick anyway," he said.

"It's part and parcel of the game and I can't do anything about that.

"I spoke to Steve Cotterill and he seemed like a young and ambitious manager. I'm not saying Neil Warnock isn't ambitious, it's just that I spoke to both of them and I liked both of them, but I had to make a choice.

"I'm enjoying it here. Because I haven't been playing I've spent time getting to know the lads and they and the manager have really got behind me."