Chelsea manager Antonio Conte believes Victor Moses did not try to "cheat" the referee during Saturday's FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal.
The Blues were chasing an equaliser at Wembley when Moses went down under a challenge from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain inside the penalty area.
But Chelsea's appeals for a spot-kick were waved away and referee Anthony Taylor promptly sent Moses over for a second bookable offence.
The Nigeria international has been widely criticised for committing an act of simulation but Conte, whose side went on to lose 2-1, is adamant Moses went to ground due to fatigue rather than an attempt to gain an advantage.
"There is a lot of tension in these moments and sometimes you could be tired," Conte told Chelsea's official website.
"I don’t think if my player dived he did it with a real intention of doing it.
"We have arrived at the end of the season and many players are tired, and then there is a lot of pressure.
"It’s not a good situation to dive, for sure, but Moses is an honest player and if he did this it’s only because he was tired.
"He didn’t want to cheat the referee," added Conte.
Moses will miss the first game of next season when Chelsea start their Premier League title defence in August.
The Blues will also have Champions League football to contend with and are set to discover their fixtures list - along with the rest of England's top tier - on June 14.
Meanwhile, Oxlade-Chamberlain has revealed he was confident a penalty would not be awarded after seeing Moses take a tumble.
The Gunners versatility man said: "As soon as Moses went down I was fully confident that I was nowhere near him and that the referee should have seen that so my heart didn’t really go in my mouth."
