GALLAS IS OFFSIDE AND FABREGAS DENIES SPAT

Hull manager Phil Brown had accused Spaniard Fabregas of spitting at the feet of assistant manager Brian Horton after the final whistle in the quarter-final.

"I was there and I witnessed it, he spat at my assistant manager down the tunnel," Brown said at a post-match news conference after William Gallas's controversial late header knocked his side out.

Brown added: "He spat at his feet."

"I categorically deny that I spat at anybody after the match," Fabregas, who did not play in the match because of injury, said in a statement on the Arsenal website (http://www.arsenal.com).

"I have never done this in my whole career on the pitch, so why would I do it when I am not even playing?

"I can understand the frustration of losing a game to a dubious goal, that has happened to me many times in my career as well. But this is not the fault of me or any of the Arsenal players."