Gudjonsson ban extended

Gudjonsson was sent off in the closing stages for an alleged stamp on Preston's Neil Mellor, and as far as I can establish the incident created history with this the first time two Burnley players have been sent off in the same home game.

Burnley boss Owen Coyle, unhappy with the referee's performance, was particularly displeased with this decision and launched an appeal. There's no doubt that Joey's foot makes contact with Mellor but Burnley claimed strongly that it was not a stamp, and there's no doubt the television pictures do look to back up our claim.

However, it was very much obvious to me that we wouldn't get them to accept this, and the worst fears have been confirmed with the panel deciding that Burnley's appeal was frivolous. Because of that they have extended the ban to four games and that means Joey will not be available again until the Arsenal cup tie on 5^th January next year.

Coyle is far from happy and on hearing the news said: "We are astounded by the decision."