The gaffer also dismissed suggestions that we are a 'dirty side' after picking up six yellow cards in addition to the red.
In quotes carried by the Chronicle following his after match press conference, the gaffer explained about the sending off and an appeal.
'I hope I can. No doubt we will lose it.'
A reference to the 'harsh' card appeal not likely to succeed with the rule book classing any 'studs up' as dismissal worthy. He did however explain that he felt the challenge was very similar to one on Moussa Sissoko that the referee only awarded a yellow card to - so his anger was directed at a lack of consistency from the man in charge.
'Sissoko had a similar one just before, and that was given a yellow. I`ve seen it over and over - it`s come over his head, he`s looking at the ball, there is no intent, there is no maliciousness, it`s just coming down and he`s just stamped on his foot. It definitely was not dangerous. It was clumsy, but I have seen plenty of clumsy challenges. Football is a contact sport, it`s a physical sport and we cannot take that away.'
As for the number of the bookings in the game, he went on to add.
'I don`t think any of the tackles were. It was not a dirty game and we`ve not kicked them off the park. They were fouls and I think the ref has reacted too harshly with every one of them - a bit too soon, a bit too rash.'
In additional quotes, McClaren also made his thoughts pretty clear on what he felt influenced the referee when it came to the red card - and that was Match of the Day picking out his first few appearances and the tackles he put in during those games.
Asked about Mitrovic developing a reputation now, he said.
'Maybe, but I don`t know how, he`s only played a couple of games. Maybe the referees are too busy watching Match of the Day instead of assessing their own game. That can be a problem. I don`t really know. Our discipline has to better, but we feel it was harsh.'
He did however add that he was surprised to see Coquelin recover so quickly after the incident, but clearly Mitrovic has to learn quickly otherwise he will become a marked man.
'I was surprised that the player got up and carried on after rolling around. He (Mitrovic) has to learn. I know him well and there`s no intent in anything he does, he`s just a winner.'
As for brief comments about the game itself, the BBC have him quoted as saying that he felt the crowd were fantastic on the day, and all the team could do was show 'spirit and fight' and on that score he felt they put in a 'marvellous' effort.