Owen Coyle expects Gary Cahill red card to be overturned

Gary Cahill is sent off on Saturday (EPA)

Bolton manager Owen Coyle is confident the Football Association will overturn the red card shown to Gary Cahill and has hinted that he is unhappy with the performance of referees' chief Mike Riley.

Cahill was given a straight red following a late tackle from behind on Scott Parker in the early stages of Bolton's 3-0 defeat at Tottenham.

Referee Stuart Attwell, famed for giving Reading a 'ghost goal' that never went anywhere near the posts at Watford three years ago, decided that Cahill denied Parker a clear goal-scoring opportunity despite the fact that the defender hauled down the 31-year-old 40 yards from goal when Bolton had plenty of cover.

The Trotters players and management were furious with the red card and chairman Phil Gartside branded the decision an "absolute disgrace".

Coyle, whose team remain 18th following their latest defeat, feels he has strong grounds for a successful appeal against Cahill's suspension.

"I will be appealing the decision as soon as I can. It was baffling, bemusing," he said.

The Bolton boss has seen five of his players sent off so far this season and thinks a number of decisions have gone against him since he took over at the Reebok Stadium in January 2010.

The 45-year-old continued by suggesting that Riley, the man who monitors refereeing standards for the Professional Game Match Officials Board, has not taken his remonstrations seriously.

Coyle said: "I spoke to him after we lost to an offside goal in the 94th minute at Liverpool. He said he'd ring me back.

"I rang him after we played at White Hart Lane, Spurs got two penalties and we had the biggest shout when Cahill was brought down, but was booked for diving. I rang him three or four days later after he was supposed to ring me back, so you can draw your own conclusions on that. Mike's obviously in charge of those refs."

When asked if he felt his side were not getting the rub of the green with refereeing decisions because they are not one of the division's top clubs, the Scot replied: "There's a lot of merit in the question."

Gareth Bale had tucked away Luka Modric's corner to put Spurs 1-0 up by the time that Cahill was dismissed, and Tottenham took control, adding goals from Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe to seal the win.

Only an excellent performance from Jussi Jaaskelainen stopped the game turning into a rout, which would have piled even more pressure on Coyle.

Despite having registered nine points from their opening 14 games, the Bolton boss is not worried that he is losing the confidence of Gartside.

"From day one I've had a fantastic relationship with the chairman and the owner," Coyle said.

"They know what I am capable of doing and they know what the team is capable of doing."

Unlike Bolton, Spurs are full of confidence after dropping just two points in their last 11 matches.

Their form has left manager Harry Redknapp admitting his current crop is probably the best he has worked with in his 28-year management career.

"It's my best, a good team. I've got good players...Modric is fantastic, Scott Parker - what a good player he has been for us," he said.

Such was the impressive nature of Tottenham's 3-1 win over West Brom last week that Redknapp felt compelled to leave out leading scorer Rafael van der Vaart against Bolton and stick instead with Defoe up front alongside Emmanuel Adebayor.

The Spurs boss insists that the Dutchman, who has been struggling with a hamstring niggle all season, understood why he started the game on the bench.

"He's disappointed, obviously, but he took it okay," Redknapp said.

"It was a hard decision. I just felt the little man (Defoe) is on fire so I stuck with him.

"I like Rafa, he's a great player, a good pro, but he keeps getting hamstrings.

"You've just got to be careful he doesn't tear it and we lose him for six weeks."

PA