Jamie Vardy banned: Leicester striker has appeal against red card rejected and will be suspended until 2017

Striker will miss games against Everton, West Ham and Middlesbrough

Leicester believe that Vardy was forced into the challenge (Getty)

Jamie Vardy has had his appeal against his sending-off in Leicester’s draw with Stoke rejected, with the Football Association upholding his three-match ban that will rule him out until 2017.

The 29-year-old was shown a straight red card in the 28th minute after he was judged by referee Craig Pawson to have dived in two-footed on Stoke striker Mame Diouf in a reckless manner.

Leicester made their case to the Football Association in an effort to have the striker’s three-match ban overturned, claiming that Vardy was pushed into the challenge after colliding with England teammate Glen Johnson.

However, the FA have rejected Leicester argument and upheld his three-match ban, which means he will not be eligible to play for Foxes until their FA Cup third round encounter against Everton on 7 January.

The FA released a short statement that read: “Jamie Vardy will serve a three-match suspension with immediate effect after his wrongful dismissal claim was rejected, following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing.”

With the Foxes struggling this season down in 15th place, the loss of Vardy for the upcoming games against Everton, West Ham and Middlesbrough will hit them hard as they have just begun to show sign of rediscovering their form from the successful 2015/16 campaign, with this latest setback leaving manager Claudio Ranieri the choice of Islam Slimani, Shinji Okazaki and Leonardo Ulloa to choose his attack from.