'Wronged' hit-man Rodney Rowe faces a hefty blow after video evidence drew a blank.

Rodney Rowe

York City spent hours poring through two separate video recordings of Wednesday's ill-starred defeat at Millwall during which Rowe was sent off for violent conduct.

The club were striving to prove Rowe's innocence and confirm his claim that he was the victim of 'mistaken identity'.

But neither video-tape studied by the City management revealed anything of the incident for which Rowe was red-carded just four minutes after coming on as a substitute in the 3-1 defeat at the New Den.

However, the tape given them by hosts Millwall did not include the later stages of the game in which the controversy flared. City manager Alan Little was today seeking his Lions' counterpart Keith Stevens to get his copy, but Little described it as 'the last chance'.

If City are unable to point to any evidence Rowe will have to suffer the consequences of a three-man ban after being deemed to have 'thrown a punch' in an off the ball incident.

Little confirmed neither tape showed anything of the alleged tussle in which an assistant referee alerted Nottingham referee Fraser Stretton. A subsequent lengthy touchline discussion eventually culminated in Rowe's dismissal.

A dismayed Rowe strenuously claimed he was the victim of mistaken identity. He insisted he was not even in the Millwall penalty-area where the alleged offence was said to have been committed.

Immediately after the game Rowe declared: "I know for a fact it wasn't me. How anyone gets me mixed up with someone else is unbelievable."

That left the City manager concerned at the validity of a decision that hinged on identifying Rowe as the culprit.

"We know Rodney was not in the box at the time a punch was said to have been thrown, but we cannot prove that. Our lads say no punch was thrown, yet neither video shows anything of the incident," said Little.

Rowe now faces a three-match ban that will keep him out of the November 4 trip to reading and the subsequent home games against Notts County and Macclesfield Town.

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