Everton fail in appeal over Diniyar Bilyaletdinov red card

Everton's Russian midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov will miss the last game of the Barclays Premier League campaign and the first two league matches of next season after the club's appeal against his red card at West Brom on Saturday was dismissed.

The 26-year-old was shown a red card for what referee Anthony Taylor deemed to be a high challenge on Baggies midfielder James Morrison after 77 minutes at the Hawthorns.

A statement on Everton's official website www.evertonfc.com today read: "The Blues were informed on Tuesday afternoon that referee Anthony Taylor's decision would be upheld, thus ruling Bilyaletdinov out of Sunday's Premier League finale against Chelsea, as well as the first two games of next season.

"The appeal was dismissed in spite of Morrison providing a statement in support of the Everton player."