Unsworth ban confirmed

The Football Association have confirmed that David Unsworth’s appeal against his sending off has been dismissed.

The defender was shown the red card following a scuffle with Chelsea’s Jesper Gronkjaer during Everton’s defeat at Goodison Park.

The Dane had protested the decision on Unsworth’s behalf during the match and offered to assist in any appeal against the decision of referee Eddie Wolstenholme.

But the FA have viewed video evidence and today decided Wolstenholme’s decision was correct.

Unsworth, who is already suspended for the Merseyside derby on Sunday, will now serve a further three-match ban.

He will be unavailable until the FA Cup third round tie with Shrewsbury on January 4, missing the trip to Birmingham and home matches against Bolton and Manchester City.

A statement on www.thefa.com read: “David Unsworth’s appeal against his sending-off against Chelsea on December 7 at Goodison Park has been rejected.

“The Everton defender will therefore serve a ban for a total of four matches, which includes a one match suspension for collecting his fifth booking of the season on December 1.

“The ban will start on Saturday, December 21. The incident, involving Chelsea’s Jesper Gronkjaer, was viewed by the video advisory panel.”