Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy should not have been sent off for diving during last weekend's 2-2 draw with West Ham United, England manager Roy Hodgson said on Wednesday.

Vardy, capped six times by Hodgson, was shown a second yellow card after appearing to invite a foul from Angelo Ogbonna and then going to ground during the second half of Sunday's game at the King Power Stadium.

Vardy's furious reaction to his dismissal saw him hit with a Football Association misconduct charge, meaning he could be banned for two matches, but Hodgson felt that he had every reason to feel hard done by.

"Vardy got sent off at the weekend, but once again I will go out on a limb -- I don't see that. I don't see that as a dive," Hodgson told journalists during an FA media briefing in London.

"I think he was unbalanced. I don't think it was a penalty either. I think he was unbalanced, running at that speed.

"I think there was a very slight contact with the defender, who was trying to cover. I think he went down because he was unbalanced. I don't think he was trying to dive.

"But of course all the pundits I hear say he was trying to dive, look how he dived. I don't see it. I wouldn't blame him for that. I sympathise with him. I think he was very, very unlucky."

The image of Vardy, 29, angrily berating referee Jon Moss was splashed across British newspapers' sports pages on Monday, but Hodgson said that his reaction, though unfortunate, was understandable.

"He has reacted like human beings sometimes react," Hodgson said.

"He hasn't just said to the ref, 'that is alright, I understand' and shakes hands and have a good game. He has called him a few names. But he is a human being and that can happen."

Vardy will learn the outcome of an FA hearing into his misconduct charge on Thursday.

He is already guaranteed to miss Sunday's home game with Swansea City and could also miss the trip to Manchester United the following weekend.

Leicester's slip-up against West Ham enabled second-place Tottenham Hotspur to trim their lead to five points with a 4-0 win at Stoke City on Monday. Both teams have four games remaining.