For the second week in succession, Jon Walters rebuilt his spot-kick reputation by firing Stoke’s equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Norwich. Just four minutes after scoring his fourth league goal of the season, however, the Republic of Ireland international blotted his copybook after seeing red for a challenge on the Canaries’ Alex Tettey in Saturday afternoon’s Carrow Road stalemate:
The dismissal – incidentally the first of his career – means Walters is set to miss the next three Gameweeks, as Mark Hughes’ side go head-to-head against West Ham, Villa and Hull. After the match, the Potters boss conceded he will reluctantly accept the ban:
“There is contact but the ball is bouncing and both players have got their feet high. I think there was an intention to win the ball by both players and unfortunately it’s been nicked away from Jon and he’s caught him on the follow-through, which he’s acknowledged. We are looking at Jon missing three games for that and I think it was one of those challenges which is just a matter of millimetres whether contact is made.”
Walters joins team-mate Charlie Adam on the sidelines, then; the Scot will miss the next two after earning a retrospective three-match ban from the FA last week.
According to reports in the local press, Tottenham are set to appeal the red card handed out to Younes Kaboul in Saturday’s defeat at Chelsea. If successful, the centre-half will be available for this weekend’s north London derby against Arsenal at White Hart Lane – the outcome is due later in the week.
Swansea’s Chico Flores is set to serve a one-match ban against West Brom this weekend, whilst Nicklas Anelka has until Thursday to appeal the five-match ban dished out for his quenelle gesture back in December. In the meantime, the forward has been suspended by the Baggies until the situation is resolved.
In this week’s Suspension Tightrope, we have a couple of new additions edging closer towards a potential ban. Arsenal’s Mathieu Flamini and Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin both earned their eighth cautions of the campaign – two more yellows prior to Gameweek 34 and they’ll be looking at time on the sidelines.
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