Huth's ban stands after Stoke lose appeal against red card

Stoke City have lost their appeal to the Football Association against the red card that defender Robert Huth received during Saturday's home clash with Sunderland and the player must now serve a three-game ban.

Huth was sent off by referee Martin Atkinson after 45 minutes of the Premier League match at the Britannia Stadium for a challenge on Sunderland midfielder David Meyler.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis opted to appeal against the dismissal after claiming there was "no intent" in Huth's challenge and that he "was nowhere near the Sunderland player." But an independent regulatory commission rejected the appeal yesterday.

A statement on the FA website read: "An independent regulatory commission has today dismissed the claim of wrongful dismissal of Stoke City's Robert Huth.

"The defender will serve a three-match suspension with immediate effect following his red card for serious foul play in the game with Sunderland on 4 February."

It means Huth will miss two league games, at Fulham this weekend and the home match with Swansea City on 26 February, plus the FA Cup fifth-round encounter at Crawley Town on 19 February.

The commission did not exercise the option of adding another game to Huth's punishment, which it can impose if it deems an appeal to be frivolous. Huth will also be eligible to play in Stoke's two-legged Europa League tie with Valencia on 16 and 23 February.

The Sunderland manager, Martin O'Neill, claimed the Huth challenge was "reckless" in his media conference ahead of tonight's FA Cup replay against Middlesbrough.

Leicester City, meanwhile, were successful in their appeal against Jermaine Beckford's red card during the 1-0 defeat at Brighton and Hove Albion. Beckford was sent off in the second half of the Championship game on Saturday. After mistiming a challenge on Lewis Dunk, Beckford tapped the Brighton man on the back and exchanged words. This led to the referee's assistant flagging and the Foxes striker being shown a straight red card by referee Andy Woolmer.

A statement on the FA website read: "Leicester City's Jermaine Beckford has had his claim for wrongful dismissal upheld."