Martinez relieved as Sammon off the hook for Stoke clash
The Latics were trailing 1-0 at Old Trafford when, in the 39th minute, the striker caught Michael Carrick in the face with his left hand.
There did not appear to be any real intent and Sammon looked disappointed to be penalised, and that turned to shock when he was shown a straight red by referee Phil Dowd.
Martinez said: “We thank the panel for their decision, which is the correct one. We now need to draw a line under the matter and move on.
“I am delighted to have Conor available for the next three matches. It would have been really unfair for him to share the frustrating feeling that he had on Monday for another three games after doing nothing wrong.”
Yesterday’s decision means Sammon no longer has to serve a three-match ban and will be available for Saturday’s Barclays Premier League trip to Stoke.
The St Stephen’s Day defeat brought a fine run of form to a halt after they had picked up eight points from five games in a sequence that included Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Martinez said: “We are in the middle of a very busy period and I don’t think we can lose too much time looking back at that game in our minds. We need to move on, assess it and be ready to play at Stoke on Saturday.
“We had two very good home performances against Chelsea and Liverpool, and previously we had two very good away performances as well, and that’s what we have to take out of December.
“The way to finish December is with a strong performance against Stoke at one of the hardest places in the League.”
Sammon has yet to score this season but Martinez has no doubt about the 25-year-old’s value to the team.
“Conor has had a massive impact on our recent form and it’s important that he’s available,” said the Spaniard. “We have many games in a short period of time and we need everyone.”
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