Martin Skrtel banned for three games after David de Gea stamp
Wednesday 25 March 2015 15:11, UK
Martin Skrtel will be banned for three games after an FA charge of stamping on David de Gea was proven.
The Liverpool centre-half denied deliberately standing on De Gea in the final seconds of Sunday's defeat to Manchester United at Anfield, an incident missed at the time by referee Martin Atkinson.
But an independent panel upheld the charge, and Skrtel will now miss Premier League games against Arsenal and Newcastle, and next month's FA Cup quarter-final replay at Blackburn.
The first of those matches could have a significant bearing on Liverpool's hopes of Champions League qualification given they go to the Emirates six points behind Arsenal and five shy of fourth-placed United.
Steven Gerrard is already missing following his red card at the weekend, and Skrtel's absence could mean a recall for Kolo Toure against his old club.
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Before the decision was announced Skrtel was active on social media, posting an image of some clowns on his Instagram account.
Liverpool will not be making any comment on the panel's decision.
Skrtel's suspension means manager Brendan Rodgers will have to make another change to his first-choice defence which has been remarkably successful since the turn of the year.
Dejan Lovren would be his preferred option, as he filled in for the injured Mamadou Sakho recently, but a doubt hangs over the Croatia international for the Arsenal match at least.
The 25-year-old was not in the squad to face United last weekend and he was not fit enough to join up with his national side for Saturday's European qualifier against Norway on Saturday because of the recurrence of an abdominal injury.
Liverpool's only other centre-back is Toure, who has travelled to the Ivory Coast to join up with his national team despite retiring from international football, as the squad celebrate their Africa Cup of Nations triumph earlier this year with friendlies against Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
Another option for Rodgers is to move Emre Can to the centre of a back-three and bring in Glen Johnson on the right.
