Stoke City player blow confirmed ahead of crucial run of fixtures | OneFootball

Stoke City have confirmed that they have lost an appeal after Tommy Smith’s red card against Barnsley in the week.

The right-back was dismissed late on in the feisty clash against the Tykes after going in for a challenge with his studs showing.

Even though he went in with force, Smith didn’t actually fully catch Claudio Gomes, which would’ve been why the Potters decided to appeal the decision with the EFL.

However, the club announced this afternoon that they had lost the appeal, meaning Smith will now serve a three-game ban.

That comes into effect immediately, so the former Huddersfield man will be missing tomorrow’s trip to Derby County. As well as that, the 29-year-old will be absent as Stoke take on Watford in the League Cup and the home fixture against Hull in eight days time.

This will present boss Michael O’Neill with a problem going into those games, as he lacks natural cover for Smith. One option is to play winger Tom Ince in an unfamiliar deeper role, which has happened this season, or to put left-sider Alfie Doughty in.

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How many goals did Stoke's first game have?

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The verdict

Firstly, you can understand why Stoke appealed the challenge as whilst it didn’t look great live, Smith didn’t catch Gomes with his studs.

But, in today’s game, the force he went in means he was always going to be in trouble and unfortunately it’s the sort of tackle the authorities don’t want to allow.

This is a real blow for Stoke given the lack of natural cover and it will be interesting to see how O’Neill adapts for the next few games.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.