Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish said he would have been happy to call off Sunday's Premier League match at Swansea in the wake of the death of Wales manager Gary Speed.
McLeish said: "We would have understood if Swansea had wanted to cancel the game, we would certainly have agreed with that.
"But I think there were too many wheels in motion, that was the official line I heard, but we would have understood."
The Villa boss admitted he had been worried about whether goalkeeper Shay Given, who played with Speed at Newcastle, and Welsh international James Collins would be able to play, particularly after seeing Given's emotional reaction to the spontaneous applause that greeted the minute's silence.
McLeish added: "There was that minute's silence that turned into applause and I was worried about losing Given.
"James Collins was white as a sheet and (Jermaine) Jenas played as his midfield partner at Newcastle so these guys were extremely distraught.
"Shay told me about 10 minutes before I was due to give my team talk.
"My blood ran cold and my players were very upset pre-match. I'm glad it didn't affect their performance.
"Shay showed his concentration and pulled off a great save when we needed it but it is a devastating loss for football and my heart goes out to Gary Speed's family."
