FA uphold Knight red card
28 Dec 2007 - 15:39:35
Zat Knight will miss Saturday's trip to Wigan Athletic after the Football Association rejected a claim of wrongful dismissal from the Aston Villa defender.
Knight was sent off just before half-time in the 4-4 draw with Chelsea on Boxing Day for a professional foul on Michael Ballack.
The former Fulham defender's foul conceded a penalty which gave Chelsea a route back into a game in which they were trailing 2-0 at the time.
After the match, Villa boss Martin O'Neill hit out at the decision and overall performance of referee Phil Dowd.
He said: "Zat Knight's sending-off was a major moment. It wasn't a penalty, the Chelsea player went over and there was no contact.
"We were playing brilliantly. We deserved to be 2-0 in front, but the penalty was really dubious and it was a major turning point in the game.
"Suddenly it was 2-1, we've had a man sent off and have to play the whole of the second half with ten men."
However, the FA have ruled Dowd had grounds to produce the straight red card and Knight will now miss the trip to the JJB Stadium.