Bristol City have managed to avoid losing another player to suspension for picking up five bookings already this season ahead of their clash with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday.
So far this term, the Robins have seen both Mark Sykes and Joe Williams miss matches having reached the threshold of five yellow cards which warrants a one-game suspension in the Championship. However, this only applies within the first 19 games of the season and Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Portsmouth was the Reds’ 19th league match of the campaign.
That means Tuesday night’s meeting with the Black Cats will be matchday number 20 for City and as a result, any bookings picked up in the North East will count towards the next threshold. From Tuesday night, players will be given a two-match ban if they pick up 10 yellow cards within 37 league matches.
While these things can be subject to change, currently, matchday 37 will see the Robins travel to Bramall Lane to face Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United on Wednesday, March 12. While it is unlikely to happen, should a player pick up as many as 15 bookings in that time, they would in turn be hit with a three-match suspension.
Although Liam Manning didn’t have anyone in his squad who was facing an imminent ban, the change in the threshold will come as good news for Luke McNally, Scott Twine and Nahki Wells who were all just two bookings away from a suspension. With the change in restriction, all three players are now seven yellow cards away from being handed a ban.
Williams and Sykes are the two players who will have to be more cautious when they return from injury. Although fitness issues have meant that both players have failed to add to their five bookings apiece since their respective bans, they have picked up needless cards at times this season and Manning will be keen to avoid losing them again unnecessarily.
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In terms of other players’ yellow card tallies, Ross McCrorie, Rob Dickie, Cam Pring and Haydon Roberts have picked up two bookings already this season, while a handful of other players have been cautioned once this term.
Bristol City players’ league bookings so far this season
- Joe Williams, Mark Sykes – five
- Luke McNally, Scott Twine, Nahki Wells – three
- Ross McCrorie, Rob Dickie, Cam Pring, Haydon Roberts – two
- Jason Knight, Anis Mehmeti, Zak Vyner, George Tanner, Sinclair Armstrong, George Earthy, Elijah Morrison – one