Hatters boss expects club to appeal Walsh's sending off after insisting dismissal was 'never a red'
Midfielder dismissed during the second half of 1-0 win over Coventry
Luton boss Matt Bloomfield is expecting the club to appeal Liam Walsh’s sending off against Coventry City this afternoon stating it was ‘never a red’ card.
With 68 minutes on the clock, and Town having a man advantage due to Sky Blues’ defender Jay Dasilva being sent off inside the opening 15 minutes, wingback Izzy Jones was fouled just outside the area, and then inside the box, referee Oliver Langford opting to award a free kick for the first incident. In the aftermath of the decision, Luis Binks and Mark McGuinness were involved in mini-skirmish which saw Walsh, who had just been booked moments earlier, go over and push the City defender on the arm, who having also bumped into Carlton Morris, threw himself to the floor holding his head.
The official, who was already having a fairly mixed game, opted to brandish a straight red, showing the Hatters; midfielder his third red card of the season, meaning he will face a lengthy ban. A distraught Walsh had no option but to trudge off down the tunnel, but the fact it wasn’t his second booking, instead a straight red, means there is a chance it could be overturned and he will be able to face West Bromwich Albion in the Championship-decider next weekend.
Walsh had starred in the contest, almost breaking the deadlock with a magnificent 25-yard effort that was brilliantly tipped onto the bar by keeper Bradley Collins, as asked if he had seen it back, Bloomfield made his feelings quite clear, saying: “I have, and no chance (it’s a red), no chance. Unfortunately for the referee I think he’s been, yeah, it’s not a red, it’s not a red. I think so (an appeal will be launched) and from my point of view we will be, absolutely. It’s not a red card, he’s barely put any hands on him. The lad’s gone down making a meal of it holding his face, it’s disappointing to see things like that.”
Bloomfield did accept that having already seen a yellow card, Walsh should have stayed away from the incident, as he continued: “Absolutely, he’d been booked, we’d won a free kick, but I need to see it back as I think Macca’s getting a little bit of grief and the lad obviously knows what he’s doing. He’s trying to get someone involved to then throw himself down, so I’m disappointed. He had been top, I thought he was the best player on the pitch on Monday (against Bristol City) and for however many minutes, I don't know what minute he got sent off, he was one of the best on the pitch.
"Obviously he was allowed to show his vast array of passing range because he was free in the middle of the pitch, so it’s frustrating, but I guess it’s easier to take by the fact that we were able to find a winner. We’ll certainly be discussing it with Walshy. I do feel for him as it was never a red and he cares very deeply, so we’ve got to be careful with him. He’s gone to try and help one of his team-mates, he’s not done anything that should have resulted in a red card.”
It was the second time that Langford had reached for his top pocket, having sent off Dasilva in the 13th minute after he clipped Milli Alli’s heel when the attacker was in pursuit of Thelo Aasgaard’s excellent ball over the top and bearing down on goal. On that call, Bloomfield added: “We felt that was an opportunity for us to get Milli down the sides and we’d spoken a lot about that before the game, with our wingbacks against a back four, the detachment between centre back and full back.
"We were able to get Milli down the side and it was actually the full back that was covering, but it was the gameplan that we’d spoken about. It was a great ball from Thelo and Milli’s obviously a real threat when he’s at the top of the pitch like that. We started the game really well and then once it goes down to 10, it’s a completely different contest. It’s tough when the game changes so early, it’s a completely different game to the one we expected at that point.
“We have to stay patient, understand that it might not all fall into place right away. We have to keep probing and keep working. Maybe in the first half it wasn't quite what we wanted it to be, but when we came out second half, I felt like we were really patient and tried to get in some good areas. As far as I know (it was a red), I’ve not studied it, my instinct from the side was that it’s a red, and I guess it’s going to be.”