Millwall sweating on player news with Stoke City, Sunderland fixtures in mind | OneFootball

Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts could be hit with a longer ban by the FA following his red card against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Millwall are still waiting to see if Liam Roberts will be hit with a longer ban for his red card against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup.

The Lions keeper was shown a straight red for a kung-fu type kick on Jean-Phillipe Mateta as he raced out to clear a through ball, with the incident leaving the Frenchman needing 25 stitches.

Since then, Roberts has come in for fierce criticism in some quarters, with Palace chairman Steve Parish describing it as the ‘most reckless challenge I’ve ever seen’.

Liam Roberts could be set for extended ban

In normal circumstances, a standard three-game ban would apply, but the Daily Mail has revealed that the FA could look to extend that.

The update explains how they can invoke ‘a 'clearly insufficient' punishment claim’, which is applied if they feel the offence warrants a longer suspension.

It’s added that the FA have until 1pm on Tuesday to notify Millwall if Roberts will see his ban extended, and the Lions will then have the chance to appeal, with a Regulatory Commission then making a decision.

It’s rare for that to happen in English football, but it has done in the past, with former Man City defender Ben Thatcher once hit with an eight-game ban after an awful challenge that left Portsmouth’s Pedro Mendes unconscious back in 2006.

Millwall set to be without Liam Roberts

There’s no serious debate about the red card, with Alex Neil understandably acknowledging that Roberts deserved to be sent off.

But, there are conflicting opinions on whether he should face a longer ban, and you can understand both points of view.

On the one hand, the keeper certainly didn’t intend to hurt Mateta, as he wanted to clear the ball, and you see keepers come out in that manner quite often.

A high-profile somewhat comparable foul occurred when Sadio Mané kicked Ederson in the face, and he was banned for the standard three games, with Liverpool actually appealing the length of the suspension at the time.

Yet, it was very dangerous by Roberts, and it could’ve been a lot worse for Mateta, who is thankfully out of hospital, even if he is expected to miss a few games for Palace.

So, it’s ultimately going to be down to the FA, but Millwall know they will be without Roberts for at least games against Bristol City, Watford and Leeds in the next nine days.

After that, they have games against Stoke and Sunderland, which would come into the equation if he is banned for longer.

Lukas Jensen is the number one for Millwall, though, so it’s not a massive setback for Neil, who had only used Roberts in two league games, which was due to an injury Jensen picked up at Luton.