Wolves boss hits out after appeal of Nenad Milijas' red card at Arsenal fails

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy today hit out at the Football Association for rejecting Wolves' appeal over Nenad Milijas' red card at Arsenal.

The club had hoped video evidence would see Milijas' dismissal, which came in Tuesday's 1-1 draw at the Emirates, rescinded by the FA's appeals panel at yesterday's hearing.

But the governing body upheld the decision of referee Stuart Attwell to dismiss Milijas for serious foul play.

The midfielder now serves a three-game ban, missing the Premier League fixtures against Bolton tomorrow and Chelsea on Monday and the FA Cup third round tie with Birmingham.

McCarthy was so disappointed that he spent 20 minutes showing the media footage of the incident at his press conference today and asking opinions.

He said: "The situation should not have been compounded by a wrong decision to uphold a three-match ban.

"Maybe because Stuart Attwell had got one of his red cards rescinded a few weeks earlier had an effect, but I would like to think not."

The fact Alex Song was only booked for two what could be deemed more serious offences during the game could not form part of the evidence.

The FA insist any comparison with Wayne Rooney's sending off for kicking out at an opponent, which saw him suspended for two England games following their appeal, is unfair because there are no set guidelines on the number of games he faced being banned for under the UEFA system.

Wolves secretary Richard Skirrow said: "We are hugely disappointed with the ruling. From the video evidence of that challenge alone, we strongly believed we had very good grounds for appeal.

"This was an opinion that seemed to be shared by a lot of people who viewed the incident. Our view that the dismissal and three-match ban would be hugely disproportionate to the alleged offence was further reinforced by other incidents in the game.

"However, despite highlighting the inconsistency and harshness of Nenad's dismissal, we have been told that it was not deemed to be an obvious and serious error and, therefore, the original decision and resulting punishment stands.

"In our view it was certainly not serious foul play. Prior to Tuesday, Nenad had only six cautions in English football and no suspensions. Likewise, as a club, we are not serial appealers of red cards.

"In fact, on further reflection, 'disappointed' doesn't seem to do justice to the feelings of everyone at the club on hearing this decision."