Tommy Black has been warned about his future conduct by manager Trevor Francis after the Palace forward threw his shirt at the bench on Saturday.

The former Arsenal trainee, 26, was an hour into his third start of the season, having sat on the bench 43 times since his £500,000 arrival in July 2000, when Francis made a tactical decision to replace him with midfielder Aki Riihilahti against Grimsby.

As he trudged off and aggrieved fans booed the decision, Black removed his shirt and tossed it down on the bench, before sitting down. Francis said: "He has been told in no uncertain terms that it is totally unacceptable.

"I wouldn't expect a player to be thrilled at being taken off but they have got to understand that taking your shirt off and showing dissent isn't going to be tolerated by me.

"He now fully accepts my decision to bring him off.

"He has apologised and assured me that it won't happen again, if it does then he has been informed that he will have to accept the consequences."

Black is out of contract in the summer and has yet to be offered a new one by chairman Simon Jordan. With 23 players having left the club since Francis took over in December 2000, any repeat performance or indeed failure to win a first team place, could see him shown the exit.

Francis added: "He knows he was wrong and he wants to make a public apology. But whilst I accept his apology, he also knows that he won't get a second chance."