'Furlong has completely faked that' - Claim made on Derby County, Lewis Travis flashpoint v Ipswich Town | OneFootball

FLW's Derby County Fan Pundit has weighed in on Lewis Travis' sending off against Ipswich Town.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

There are few captains in the Championship quite like Derby County's Lewis Travis, with the hard-hitting, energetic midfielder one to watch at the best of times.

The 28-year-old joined the Rams in the summer, leaving Blackburn Rovers in favour of a move to the East Midlands. He reunited with John Eustace at Pride Park, and was handed the armband - despite fan favourite Ebou Adams having worn it with pride for the final months of 2024/25.

Travis had a long-term injury earlier this season that saw him miss out on a large chunk of the first-half of the campaign but since he has returned he has been a crucial part in his side's rise up the Championship table.

However, he was sent off against Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon for a second bookable offence, and questions will be asked of the Derby captain about whether he needs to rein his frustration in at times.

Verdict made on Lewis Travis' attitude at Derby County after red card

Saturday was the first time that Travis has been sent off since making the move to the Rams, and it is only the second time that he has been shown a red card in his entire career. However, the frustration seemed to get the better of him against his former side, having scored an own goal to hand Ipswich the lead.

When asked if he needs to calm himself on the pitch, Football League World's Derby Fan Pundit, Shaun Woodward, said: "I'm going to stick up for our captain here. When I first saw it in real time, I did think he was stupid. I thought he must have gone in and hurt the guy. But looking back at it, all he's tried to do is get the ball off him. The guy Furlong has completely faked that. He's tried to get him sent off.

"The referee at that time had lost the plot, he didn't know what was going on, and he had a really poor game himself, and he was always going to give him a second yellow card. The Ipswich player completely conned the referee there.

"So, I feel sorry for Travis in that respect. Granted, he didn't have his best game for Derby, scoring the own goal. He just looked a little bit off it. But I don't want to lose that side of him. He's a leader out there, but he's also very good at the dark arts. He's in the ear of the referee. He's winding players up.

"He's wanting them to almost forget about their own game, to concentrate on him. He's trying to get in their heads. And I don't want to lose that. You lose that from him, then he's not the same player. I don't think he has got an attitude problem. I just think that's just the kind of player he is."

Shaun continued: "He's out there, he's talking, he's leading. He's wanting people to think about him, which disrupts their play. He's very good at it. A lot of our fans don't necessarily see what he's actually doing out there off the ball. So, for me, he's a key player for us and I do feel for him in this occasion.

"I don't want to see him be calm on that pitch. He's almost a little bit of a Robbie Savage type player that the opposition fans love to hate, but you want him in your side.

"I think he's just got to carry on doing what he's doing. Yes, he didn't have a very good game. He'll know that. But the week before against Bristol City, he was excellent. He's been very good for a number of weeks now, so I'll just put this down as a blip, but no, I don't want to see him change his style at all."

John Eustace weighs in on Lewis Travis' red card

There were only two minutes of additional time to go when Travis received his marching orders from referee Josh Smith as he was deemed to be a little too hands-on when trying to get the ball off Darnell Furlong for a throw-in.

Despite this, Eustace was extremely calm in his approach after the final whistle, and he explained what would happen to Derby's captain in-house. He said (via: Derbyshire Live): "Obviously, I felt there was a very early booking right at the start of the game, which kind of set the tone for how the referee wanted to do things, which is fine.

"Everyone's then on tenterhooks really. I think you've got to realise the scale of the game and that's what it's all about.

"I am disappointed that he's been shown that second yellow, and when I watch it back, if he has deliberately fell on the lad, then he'll get punished."