Exclusive: ‘FA could increase Furlong’s ban’ as new West Brom evidence found
West Brom found new evidence to support an appeal against Darnell Furlong’s red card in their win over QPR at The Hawthorns on Saturday.
Furlong, 29, was shown a straight red card for violent conduct by referee Adam Herczeg after an off-the-ball incident involving QPR’s Koki Saito.
West Brom have since appealed Herczeg’s decision. However, The FA have upheld the ban, meaning Furlong will miss Albion’s next three matches against Burnley, Hull and Norwich.
West Brom find new video footage to support Furlong appeal
Former PGMOL general manager Keith Hackett believes West Brom must have found evidence to support their appeal against Furlong’s red card, otherwise they wouldn’t have bothered.
Broadcasted replays of the incident on Saturday (8 March) were inconclusive about whether or not Furlong intended to elbow Saito.
If the Baggies didn’t have better evidence than what was shown by broadcasters, Hackett believes an appeal would have been deemed frivolous and would have resulted in a longer ban for Furlong.
| West Brom stats | |
| Matches played | 36 |
| Yellow cards | 63 |
| Red cards | 2 |
“West Brom must have found better video evidence of this incident to be confident in making an appeal,” Hackett told West Brom News.
“If the FA Regulatory panel deem the appeal frivolous, this can increase the amount of the sanction.
“If the player was found to be not guilty, then it would have cast a big shadow on the player who went to ground.”
Mason Holgate to step up in Furlong absence
Tony Mowbray was visibly furious when Furlong got sent off on Saturday.
Not only did it mean Albion had to see out a one-goal lead against QPR after just taking the lead through Adam Armstrong, but it also meant that Furlong was facing a lengthy ban for violent conduct.
He’ll now miss the next three Championship games, starting with a difficult trip to Turf Moor to play Burnley on Tuesday (11 March).
Mason Holgate looks set to start against Burnley.
He’s not had the best of seasons while on loan for Everton but there’s no doubt that he’ll need to step up his performances now without Furlong in the side.