LONDON (Reuters) - Chelsea left back Ashley Cole has apologised to Tottenham Hotspur defender Alan Hutton for a bad tackle during Wednesday's thrilling 4-4 Premier League draw at White Hart Lane.

Cole was shown a yellow card after he launched himself at the Scotland international shortly before halftime, catching him halfway up his shin with his studs.

Hutton was able to continue after treatment but Tottenham's coaching staff were furious over the tackle with assistant manager Gus Poyet having heated words with Cole as the players left the pitch at halftime.

"I'd like to apologise to anyone I offended and of course Alan Hutton who I tackled," Cole said in a statement on Chelsea's Web site (www.chelseafc.com) on Thursday.

"I didn't mean to go in hard that way, it was high but I tried to read the ball and get the ball first, but he was a little bit too quick for me.

"It wasn't malicious and I'm a little disappointed with what people are saying, that I meant it."

Hutton, who joined Tottenham from Rangers in January, still has a metal rod in his right leg after breaking it in 2005. That injury, similar to the one sustained by Arsenal's Eduardo da Silva last month, sidelined him for eight months.

Hutton said in Thursday's Daily Mail that he did not blame Cole for the incident. "He said he never meant it afterwards and that's fine with me," he said.

Cole also apologised to referee Mike Riley for turning his back on the official before being booked.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Justin Palmer)