Stoke fail in Huth appeal

Stoke have lost their appeal to the Football Association against defender Robert Huth's red card received during Saturday's home clash with Sunderland, and the player must now serve a three-game ban.

Huth was sent off by referee Martin Atkinson after 45 minutes of the Barclays Premier League encounter at the Britannia Stadium for a challenge on Blacks Cats midfielder David Meyler. Stoke boss Tony Pulis opted to appeal against the dismissal after claiming there was "no intent" in Huth's challenge and that he "was nowhere near the Sunderland player".

But a statement on the FA website read: "An independent regulatory commission has dismissed the claim of wrongful dismissal of Stoke City's Robert Huth."

The statement added: "The defender will serve a three-match suspension with immediate effect following his red card for serious foul play in the game with Sunderland on February 4."

It means Huth will miss two league games, at Fulham this weekend and the home clash with Swansea on February 26, plus the FA Cup fifth-round encounter at Crawley on February 19.

The commission did not exercise the option of adding another game to Huth's punishment, which can occur if they deem an appeal to be frivolous.

Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill claimed the Huth challenge was "reckless" in his media conference ahead of Wednesday's FA Cup replay with Middlesbrough.