FA make announcement on red card appeal of Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Massimo Luongo

The Australian was given his marching orders for a tackle on Lewis Travis by countryman Jarred Gillett in just the 23rd minute of the Rovers rout, which saw the Owls crash to a 5-0 defeat.

He faced a three-match ban for the red, which would have seen him also miss the trip to Wigan on Tuesday and the home match against Millwall. It was the first red of his career.

The news gives Owls boss Garry Monk a full compliment of midfielders to choose from heading into the trip to the capital and frees up Luongo to face-off against the side he left to join Wednesday in the summer.

Speaking after the match Monk confirmed the club would be appealing the decision but stopped well short of using it as an excuse for the defeat.

Monk said: “It’s 100 per cent not a red card. There’s no intention to it, no malice, there’s no aggression.

“Speaking to all of their players and their staff and ours, nobody could quite believe that it was a red card.”

An FA spokesperson said: “Massimo Luongo's three-match suspension has been removed with immediate effect following a successful claim of wrongful dismissal.

“The Sheffield Wednesday FC midfielder was dismissed for serious foul play during the EFL Championship fixture against Blackburn Rovers FC on Saturday 18 January 2020.”