Luton will be appealing Liam Walsh’s third red card of the season with boss Matt Bloomfield saying the midfielder had been the best player on the pitch until his controversial dismissal.
The 27-year-old had been sent off twice in six games earlier in the season, which saw him instigate and issue a social media apology to Hatters fans.
Walsh returned from his second suspension, on January 6 for former boss Rob Edwards’ final game in charge and he then wasn’t in favour early on in current manager Matt Bloomfield’s tenure.
But since mid-February, the Liverpudlian has been a virtual ever-present, featuring in the last 11 games, and living up to his promise to fans to show them how much they mean to him and “helping this club go on to success”.
But against Coventry, who themselves were reduced to ten men in the 13th minute, Walsh was pulling all the strings for Luton to try and find an opener before he had a confrontation with Luis Binks in the 68th minute, pushing him in the chest only for the Sky Blue to drop to the turf, clutching his face. Referee Oliver Langford, who’d booked Walsh for an unfortunate slip moments earlier, reached for a straight red card and dismissed the bemused midfielder.
“It’s not red,” said Bloomfield, who when quizzed if the club will appeal to card in a bid to get in rescinded, added: “From my point of view, we will be, absolutely. It’s not a red card. He’s barely put any hands on him and the lad’s gone down. He’s made a meal of it, holding his face, so just it’s disappointing to see things like that.”
The incident happed just as Isaiah Jones had won a promising Luton a free-kick on Coventry’s 18-yard line. Binks and Mark McGuinness initially bumped into each other before Walsh came over.
Speaking immediately after the game – which Luton went on to win 1-0 late on as Binks put Shandon Baptiste’s shot through his own net – Bloomfield added of the red card incident: “I need to see it back. I think Macca is getting a little bit of grief and the lad obviously knows what he’s doing, he’s trying to get someone involved to then throw himself down, so disappointed.”
If Luton’s appeal falls on deaf ears, it would mean Walsh would miss the must-win final game of the season at West Bromwich Albion, which would guarantee Luton’s Championship survival.
That would be a big miss for the Hatters because the midfielder had played himself into form, helping Town to 21 points in their last 11 games.
“I thought it was the best player on the pitch on [Easter] Monday [against Bristol City] and I don’t know what minute he got sent off, but it was he was one of the best on the pitch,” said Bloomfield.
“Obviously, he was allowed to show his vast array of passing range because he was free in the middle of the pitch.
“It [red card] was frustrating, but I guess it’s easier to take, the fact that we were able to find a winner, but we’ll certainly be discussing it with Walshie.
“I do feel for him because it was it’s never red and he cares very deeply, so we got to be careful with him.
“He’s gone gone to try and help one of his team-mates. He’s not done anything that should have resulted in a red card.”
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