Swindon without Harry McKirdy for Walsall cup clash after red at Salford

McKirdy was booked for dissent in the 14th minute and was then handed a second yellow card for a foul just before half-time.

Swindon played the whole of the second half with 10 men but still held on for a 0-0 draw with Salford, after their 3-0 opening day defeat to Harrogate the week before.

In line with FA rules, McKirdy will miss Swindon’s next game, regardless of competition, meaning he will now not be available for tonight’s cup clash against the Saddlers.

He will then return for Swindon’s League Two fixture away at Carlisle this weekend.

FA rules stipulate that yellow card suspensions are specific to individual competitions, while red card suspensions carry over to the next fixture.

Meanwhile, Swindon head coach Scott Lindsey denied suggestions his players suffered from a lack of discipline against Salford despite seven of his players being shown a card in that game.

He said: “I thought we were hard done by. You all saw the game, I thought we were hard done by.

“I think Harry’s second yellow – having watched it back – it looked like shoulder to shoulder, and I thought he was very unlucky.

“Harry is Harry, and yeah, he needs to tidy up bits, he knows that. But I thought, overall, our discipline was good, and we were a bit hard done by.

“Harry is the type of character where he’s happy in life when his football is going well. So now he’s going to miss games and he’s not going to be happy in life for however long he misses. Hopefully, that will make him tidy up himself.

“But I think the second yellow was harsh, I really do, having watched it back. I thought it was shoulder to shoulder, there was no real foul in there. The player made more of it then it needed to, he was quite smart about it.

“There were decisions today… we should have had a penalty just after half-time where Jacob Wakeling gets brought down in the box. I watched it back after the game – it’s a clear, clear penalty in my opinion, but the referee doesn’t give it.”