Brighton and Hove Albion footballer Anton Rodgers did not tell police he and teammates had exposed themselves to be photographed because he “didn’t want to point the finger” at them.

Rodgers was speaking at a retrial at the Old Bailey where he is accused of sexual assault charges alongside fellow Albion players Lewis Dunk, George Barker and former Seagulls defender Steve Cook. Rodgers, Barker and Cook also deny voyeurism.

Yesterday Rodgers admitted when he gave a statement to police in October 2012 he had not said the players had exposed themselves in a Jurys Inn hotel room.

But he insisted he was not changing his story to fit with the other footballers, instead saying the first trial had helped jog his memory about the events of Saturday, July 16, 2011.

Rodgers told the court he had gone to his room at the hotel when Cook, Dunk, Albion player Ben Sampayo and a woman who cannot be named for legal reasons woke him when they returned to the hotel room after a night out.

He said he and Barker were sharing a double bed when the woman got into it with them.

Rodgers said Barker exposed himself and that either he or Cook had taken a picture of Barker. Rodgers claimed he was then egged on by his team- mates to expose himself.

He said: “I was reluctant at first. I tried to laugh it off but eventually I did it.

“I was new and three weeks into my contract. I just did it to make them laugh.”

Rodgers also said that photographs were taken of Cook exposing himself.

He said the woman was “awake and giggling” when he exposed himself while standing on the double bed she was lying in but pretended to be asleep when fellow Albion player Leon Redwood came into the room.

But Rodgers later admitted that she had not responded when an aerosol can of shaving foam had been sprayed on her leg moments later.

The next morning the woman became angry about the photos and Rodgers said he deleted four pictures but not before sending one of them to Barker.

After refusing to answer questions from police in January and March last year, Rodgers’ defence statement in October did not mention that any of the players had exposed themselves.

He told the jury yesterday: “It was hard for me to recollect things.

“Once I was in the thick of the trial, things were coming back to me much clearer.”

The trial continues.