Ben Heneghan to face three-game suspension following red card in Blackpool's defeat at Bristol Rovers

It comes after the defender was shown a straight red card in Blackpool's 2-1 defeat at Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

The on-loan Sheffield United man clattered into Jonson Clarke-Harris by the touchline, but claimed on social media after the game that he had slipped.

But the FA consider the incident to be 'serious foul play' and have confirmed he will now be suspended for Blackpool's next three fixtures.

It means he will miss the games against AFC Wimbledon (A), Bolton Wanderers (H) and Ipswich Town (H).

The Seasiders had queried the decision to dish out a three-game ban, rather than one, but the FA has stood firm.

According to FA rules, 'serious foul play' is defined as: "a tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality must be sanctioned as serious foul play."

The FA also states: "Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play."

Heneghan took to Twitter on Saturday night to have his say on the incident.

Leading 1-0 at the time courtesy of Gary Madine's early strike, Pool went on to lose the game 2-1 to suffer an eighth defeat in their last 10 games.

The 26-year-old said he would take the blame for the result, but admitted the sending off on the stroke of half-time was "hard to take" as referee Brett Huxtable apparently agreed he slipped.

Writing on Twitter after the game, Heneghan said: "Apologies for today, but when the ref agrees you slipped and still makes the decision it’s hard to take.

"The boys dug in deep but it was always going to be tough. I’ll take the blame.

"Keep getting behind this team as there’s one thing for sure which is the togetherness!"