ALAN Little was today watching the video of Saturday's FA Cup disappointment at Wrexham as he considers an appeal against the sending off of Mark Tinkler.

The City boss saw red after the 2-1 defeat, which saw the Minstermen finish the game with only nine men.

While Little said there was little dispute over the last minute red card for Martin Reed, the dismissal of Tinkler had left him bemused.

The red card for the former Leeds United man almost certainly proved the turning point in the match coming soon after City had taken the lead.

In a goalmouth scramble, Tinkler appeared to block a goal-bound shot with his elbow.

Referee Frazer Stretton awarded a penalty and gave the City defender his marching orders, despite Tinkler maintaining he could not get out of the way when Wrexham striker Neil Roberts let fly from just a yard away.

The sending off could mean Tinkler, who is set to play in midfield tonight, serving a one match ban for the visit of Manchester City on December 19.

But Little has revealed he is now studying a tape of the incident in a bid to clear Tinkler's name and ease the plight of his injury-ravaged squad.

"We went for the win on Saturday but things didn't work out with an unjustified sending off and a winning goal that was off-side," said Little.

"We will be looking at the video very carefully. It is not going to change the result but it may prevent Tinkler from getting a ban.

"Looking ahead to the Christmas period, having both Tinkler and Reed out would be a big disappointment to me.

"A lot of people rang me on Saturday to say 'how has he handled the ball?' So we will look at the video and see if anything can be done.

"If a player is going to get punished for something he hasn't done then that is not right.

"Earlier this season, justice was done for striker Rodney Rowe when a three-match ban was overturned and expunged from the records.

Rowe's red card was issued, also by Stretton, in the game at Millwall, where he was dismissed for allegedly throwing a punch.

But Rowe maintained it was a case of mistaken identity and his ban was eventually scrubbed after a Millwall player came forward to clear his name.

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