Hoddle bemoans ban for Davies

Glenn Hoddle’s satisfaction at receiving at least some semblance of justice, after referee Mike Riley admitted wrongly sending off Simon Davies against Arsenal, soon evaporated when the Tottenham boss realised his midfielder is still facing suspension.

Leeds official Riley banished Wales star Davies after just 27 minutes at Highbury following a second yellow card for his late tackle on Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira.

Only a few minutes earlier Davies had been booked for a late challenge on Ashley Cole, but after Hoddle asked the referee to look at the video of the game he agreed to wipe out the first caution.

The foul on Vieira, however, still means Davies has collected five cautions this season and he will serve a one-match ban for Spurs‘ game at Birmingham on November 30.

The ban would have been the same even if Riley – who also admitted wrongly dismissing Birmingham’s Aliou Cisse in the opening game of the season at Highbury – had not overturned the red card.

“The referee has done the right thing,” said Hoddle, “but it is a pity for Simon he will still be suspended. He’s a young man feeling very baffled at the moment as to why he’s been sent off for the first time at any level.

“I’ve looked at the two bookings and he doesn’t touch Cole with the first tackle – and even with the second he got a good bit of the ball. It is over and done now but Simon can hold his head high. He’s done a fantastic job for us this season and didn’t deserve what happened on Saturday.

“Unfortunately it meant we had to play Arsenal with 10 men for more than an hour. That’s pretty difficult even with 11 men.”

The Football Association are still awaiting Riley‘s report confirming he has overturned the red card.

The first north London derby of the season, containing several slices of traditional bitterness, has also opened a new can of worms over an alleged stamping incident featuring Tottenham’s Ledley King.

It comes just a week after Arsenal’s Dennis Bergkamp was charged by the Football Association over a similar offence.

King, playing his first game of the season after a hip injury and now called into Sven-Goran Eriksson’s England training squad this week, clashed with Arsenal’s Freddie Ljungberg who finished up with a knee injury and is a major doubt for Sweden’s friendly international against Slovakia on Wednesday.

Ljungberg said: “The knee is swollen and there is a lot of blood in it. It happened when Ledley King stood on it. I have the stud-marks. Was it intentional? I haven’t a clue but I hope not.”

Arsenal players, however, are said to be fuming over the incident having watched it again on video.

They expected it to be analysed on ITV’s The Premiership programme on Saturday night in a similar manner to the episode involving Bergkamp and Blackburn Rovers’ Nils-Eric Johansson last month for which the Dutch striker faces a three-match ban. But there was no television coverage of it on the highlights show.

Bergkamp meanwhile is a doubt for Arsenal’s Premiership trip to Southampton on Saturday after damaging his ribcage against Spurs.

Arsenal are awaiting x-ray results but manager Arsene Wenger is already set to drop Brazilian midfielder Gilberto Silva for the visit to St Mary’s as the World Cup winner is wanted by his country for a friendly in South Korea a few days earlier.