Burnley will appeal against the red card shown to CJ Egan-Riley after both he and manager Scott Parker were sent off after the final whistle in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with West Brom.
Burnley missed the chance to go top of the Championship as they were held to a 15th draw of the season, having seen John Swift’s fine free-kick end their run of seven consecutive clean sheets at home before Zian Flemming swiftly punished a mistake from Baggies stopper Joe Wildsmith to level moments later.
Their frustrations boiled over at the death as Egan-Riley appeared to kick William Lankshear as referee Gavin Ward was blowing the final whistle, with the defender shown a straight red card for violent conduct before his manager soon followed for his protests.
But a Clarets official confirmed they will appeal against the Egan-Riley decision, apparently given on the advice of an assistant as Ward did not see the coming together, and if successful will hope that counts in Parker’s favour when he has his own hearing.
With Parker dismissed, it was left to first-team coach Mike Jackson to explain the incident in the post-match press conference.
“I think there’s a lot of emotion,” Jackson said. “I think both teams are going for it, both teams are at different stages of where they need to be.
“The detail of it is not something that I want to try and get involved in because that much has gone on at the end but from what I’ve seen, I don’t think there’s a lot in it. I think sometimes we just need to take a little bit of a step back, everybody involved, but we’ll look at it as a club.”
West Brom boss Tony Mowbray said he had not seen the incident because he had already turned away from the game assuming it was over.
“I was shaking Scott’s hand, I think,” he said. “I have asked in the dressing room and Lankshear said the guy booted him, and I’m assuming they all reacted to that, did they? I don’t know.
“I didn’t see it, and it’s not me having my Arsene Wenger glasses on, I didn’t see it so how can I comment on it?…I didn’t see it because why would I be looking on the pitch after the final whistle has gone?”
The incident overshadowed a result Burnley may come to rue in what is shaping up as a tight battle for the automatic promotion spots.
“I wouldn’t say it’s frustrating, I think it’s a little bit disappointing because you want to win all your home games,” Jackson said. “I thought it was a tight game. West Brom came with a game plan, did really well, but for us it was a good reaction to going a goal down.”
The draw saw West Brom move up to fifth as they pursue their own promotion hopes.
“Delighted is a bit strong but of course we’re pleased,” Mowbray said. “It was a good game of football wasn’t it? Two teams trying to win.”
