Derby County set to take action following flashpoint in Bolton Wanderers clash | OneFootball

Derby County's inconsistent start to the 2023-24 season continued on Saturday afternoon when they were defeated 2-1 by Bolton Wanderers at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

The Rams had won three of their five League One matches before the weekend with two defeats as well - both of those coming in home contests at Pride Park.

Paul Warne's side have had better luck on their travels though with victories over Burton Albion and Peterborough United, but their luck ran out against the Trotters.

County did take the lead in the match though in the 34th minute after referee Charles Breakspear awarded a penalty when Callum Elder was pulled down in the box by Victor Adeboyejo from a corner.

Experienced midfielder Conor Hourihane stepped up from 12 yards and confidently buried the spot kick in the corner of the net, sending Wanderers stopper Nathan Baxter the wrong way.

Breakspear levelled things up in terms of penalties given when Korey Smith was adjudged to have felled Josh Sheehan inside the 18-yard box, despite the protestations of Derby's midfielder.

Bolton talisman Dion Charles found the back of the net with the resulting penalty just before half-time, but the biggest drama of the match was yet to come.

What happened in the 48th minute of Bolton 2-1 Derby?

Just a couple of minutes into the second half of the contest in Greater Manchester, a mistake from Sonny Bradley set the wheels in motion for County to be reduced to 10 men.

The experienced centre-back let a ball forward from the opposition slip under his foot, allowing Adeboyejo to create a chance against Derby goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith.

Wildsmith was able to intercept the ball outside of the box with a good tackle at first, but he was then adjudged to have handballed Charles' follow-up whilst still outside his 18-yard area by Breakspear after much deliberation.

Wildsmith was then dismissed for a deliberate handball despite fiercely protesting his innocence, and Derby went on to lose 2-1 through a Tyrese Fornah own goal.

Being reduced to 10 men arguably changed the game and now, it has emerged that Derby are set to lodge an appeal against Wildsmith's dismissal.

Per Dominic Dietrich of BBC Radio Derby, the club are believed to have obtained footage from the match which shows at a better angle that Wildsmith in-fact did not handle the ball at all, which if true would make sure his red card was made null and void and he will not have to sit out of their next match against Portsmouth on September 16.

Are Derby County likely to win their appeal for Joe Wildsmith's red card?

If Derby's footage clearly shows that Wildsmith did not handle the ball, then he should be expected to be available against Pompey in just under two weeks time.

The match footage that everyone else has seen is pretty inconclusive from the angles, but there wasn't a major appeal from Charles - the player whose shot was alleged to have been handled - which could say a lot.

In the end though, the linesman and referee Breakspear came to a joint decision that made Wildsmith guilty, but if Derby feel as though they have the footage on their side for an appeal then you'd have to feel as thoguh they have a good chance of being successful.