Jamaica international Leon Bailey has insisted he is ready to move on from a tumultuous start to the season, which saw the player pick up two red cards in five appearances.

The 23-year-old Bayer Leverkusen winger was given his marching orders in matches against FC Koln and Borussia Mönchengladbach, a strange position for him to find himself in as they were the first of his career.

 Against Koln, where Bailey was given a red card for pushing his hand into the face of Kingsley Ehzibue, he was asked to apologize to the team by captain Lars Bender.  The Jamaican insists the request was completely understandable.

“Of course I had to apologize to the team for that. That was also important to me,” Bailey said in an interview with RP Online.

“We are a unit and the team should understand how I see the situation and that it was very tough for me. I regret what happened. It was a mistake - especially in the game in Cologne that was so important to the fans, but it was never a bad intention behind it. It was just some very bad reactions from me. But now everything is fine again. In the second half of the season, I want to be more relaxed and, above all, more efficient on the pitch so that we can achieve our goals,” he added.

After a troubling several months that have seen the player plagued by injury and inconsistent form, Bailey has attributed the increased aggressiveness to high levels of motivation.

“It is relatively easy for me to stay cool - no matter how much I am provoked by an opponent. But last season I had a lot of ups and downs and some injuries. It also affected my head and my psyche. That's why I was over-motivated in the first half of the season in the two situations and much too aggressive.”