The English Football League has upheld the red card shown to Ben Pearson during Preston North End’s 1-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
Pearson was dismissed after 26 minutes at Hillsborough, having caught Wednesday’s Marco Matias, studs showing, on the follow-through.
The decision by referee David Coote was deemed controversial by many associated with Preston, prompting the club to lodge an appeal on Monday morning.
But the EFL reached its conclusion within hours, and Pearson will miss now sit out Preston’s next four matches having been sent off once already this season.
It is not the first time the 23-year-old has had an unsavoury run-in with a Sheffield Wednesday player. It was he who was involved in the off-the-ball incident for which the Owls’ Argentine forward, Fernando Forestieri, was red carded during Preston’s visit to Hillsborough two years ago.
In his last four appearances against Wednesday, Pearson has been booked twice and sent off once.
