Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has denied his meeting with West Coast captain Oscar Allen took place in public as he admitted he was disappointed with the blowback that fell on the star Eagle.

Allen came under firece criticism for his meeting with Mitchell following the Eagles round three derby loss amid uncertainty over his furture with the captain set to be a restricted free agent at the end of the year.

The 26-year-old fronted up at a press conference days later to apologise for his actions and while the Eagles said they had no issue with the meeting footy boss John Worsfold admitted the public nature of it was a distraction.

However, Mitchell has now denied that the meeting took place in a public setting.

“I don’t think it was red-handed; there was no public gathering, we had some time off my wife and I we used to live in Perth she has some work that she does in Perth,” he said on Footy Classified.

“So we went there for a couple days and part of it was to do a little recruiting but we were there to see some freinmds and do other things as well.”

Mitchell said there was nothing unusual about the meeting, saying Allen was one of many players on their radars.

“(The reaction) has been interesting, I listened to Chris Scott’s comments, which were spot on. You can talk to everyone else’s players, but no one can talk to you,” he said.

“I think it’s part of the game if you’re thinking about moving states you want to get as much information as you can and quite often players stay so just because you have a meeting doesn’t mean they go.

“There’s over 100 names on a list that we look at and we have a dossier on every one, where their contracts are and stuff like that.”

However, Mitchell said he does feel sorry for Allen and the role he played in the saga.

“I certainly regret the public narrative and the nature of it and the fact it blew up into a storm in a teacup and it all came at once on him and one player I felt for him and dissapointed that happened and I was a part of it.”