Sheffield United discover Femi Seriki appeal result ahead of Wrexham clash after “ridiculous” Birmingham City decision
Sheffield United discover Femi Seriki appeal result ahead of Wrexham clash after “ridiculous” Birmingham City decision
Sheffield United will be without right-back Femi Seriki for this weekend’s clash with Wrexham after the Blades’ appeal against his red card at Birmingham City on Saturday was rejected, The Star understands. United challenged the automatic one-game suspension handed to Seriki after he was sent off in the weekend 1-1 draw.
Seriki found himself in the centre of a flashpoint after bringing down Ibrahim Osman as he looked to race away on goal. There was little doubt that it was a foul, but the main question was whether Seriki had denied a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Teammate Tyler Bindon was close by when Seriki brought down Osman while the ball also went into goalkeeper Adam Davies’ arms, leaving boss Chris Wilder describing the subsequent red card decision from referee Tim Robinson as “ridiculous.”
“I can't believe, for the life of me, that it was so in that grey area that they can just make that decision,” Wilder added. “It’s so grey, and really it’s not even grey because it's more towards us. Tyler Bindon's there, round on the cover.
“The pace on the ball goes through to Adam Davis and it goes through to his left hand side. The boys never getting there and Tyler Bindon's two yards away on the time of the tackle. Then they go over and talk to the linesman and they come to a decision.
“The referee's not clear on it, linesman's clear on it. He’s two or three yards off of it and then there’s the double whammy of an unbelievable free kick going in the top corner. So I should imagine everybody, maybe some of our supporters, were going: ‘Oh, here we go.’ But I thought the reaction to that was first class.”
Seriki responded furiously after he had made his way off the St. Andrew’s pitch, with eyewitnesses describing him kicking out at various items in frustration as he made his way back to the United dressing room.
Sheffield United discover Femi Seriki appeal result ahead of Wrexham clash after “ridiculous” Birmingham City decision
There was some hope from United that a second opinion would see him free to face Wrexham this weekend but that will not happen. We understand United submitted an appeal this week before being informed it had been rejected.
That will open the door for Ki-Jana Hoever to step in for Seriki after an up-and-down time of it of late since joining on loan from Wolves. He replaced his fellow right back on Saturday and played his part in United earning a battling point, thanks to Patrick Bamford’s 10th of the season right on the stroke of half-time.
“It’s a foul from Femi, I get that, and it’s a yellow card,” Wilder added. “It shouldn’t be a red. So he has to deal with that. But I thought Ki-Jana coming on was excellent as well. It’s been difficult for him, because he's come to play.
“But Femi's been excellent. He had a fabulous game against QPR, and he was okay in an okay performance against West Brom. And then we changed it round. But it was a test of character for that young man to come onto the pitch, when it hasn't gone as well as he would have liked when he came through the door in January.”