Alex Bruce defends his father after his touchline spat with Gus Poyet
Bruce senior, the Hull manager, had to be restrained as he squared up to Poyet after the Sunderland boss had been sent to the stands for his reaction to Jack Rodwell's yellow card.
The FA are waiting for a report from referee Mike Dean's before deciding whether to take any further action. Both managers could be hit with a fine and a touchline ban for the bad-tempered row.
But Bruce junior reckons the heated exchange was just a storm in a teacup in a Premier League relegation scrap where passions were bound to boil over.
"It was just handbags," said the defender. "In games like that there's always going to be a bit of a hoo-ha.
"It was a big game that everyone wants to win. Temperatures were high and I'm sure all the supporters enjoyed it!"
Rodwell had sparked the clash when he theatrically went to ground in the area following minimal contact from Bruce.
Poyet reacted by booting a water container on the touchline and was sent off by Dean, but made a beeline to shake his opposite number's hand first.
It was handbags - Bruce [AMBIENT]
Bruce appeared to charge towards the Uruguayan and had to be held back by assistant referee Stuart Burt.
But Alex believes Poyet's response to Rodwell's card was over the top because he had not fouled the former Everton and Manchester City man in the first place.
"I didn't touch him," he explained. "If that's what Gus was unhappy about, then he was wrong because I didn't touch him. He was too quick for me, I didn't touch him."
In games like that there's always going to be a bit of a hoo-ha
Alex Bruce
The 30-year-old also reckons Rodwell used his arm to guide the ball home for Sunderland's opening goal, which was subsequently cancelled out by Dame N'Doye's equaliser for the Tigers.
"I saw it. I was claiming for it when he [Rodwell] put it in," he added. "To be honest, I thought it was going in anyway. He didn't need to touch it but he definitely put it in with his arm as it went in."
Hull now have a break until another clash against a team fighting to beat relegation from the Premier League when they travel to Leicester on March 14.
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And Bruce junior believes N'Doye, who has scored three goals in five appearances since his £3m deadline-day move from Lokomotiv Moscow last month, could prove to be a key signing by his father in their survival bid.
He said: "Dame's a good player. He's a threat and he always gets a chance. That's good for the team.
"He's a got a knack for goals and I'm sure he'll be a good acquisition between now and the end of the season.
"We've got some good strikers who are all capable of scoring goals. Hopefully that can be the difference between staying up.
"Leicester away next is another six pointer. We owe them one because they won here, so it's a big game."
