YORK City boss Jackie McNamara believes Luke Hendrie’s red card at Northampton was wrongly issued but admitted the club are unlikely to lodge an appeal.

Hendrie was dismissed 55 minutes into the Minstermen’s 2-0 defeat at their top-of-the-table hosts after fouling midfielder Ricky Holmes just inside the Cobblers’ half.

With City having seen previous decisions upheld after lodging complaints, McNamara could now be persuaded against contesting the on-loan Burnley full back’s sending off, which is expected to result in a three-match suspension.

The Bootham Crescent chief insisted: “It was never a red card. I didn’t think it was at the time and I definitely didn’t when I saw it back on the DVD.

“It was a professional foul in their half and should have been a yellow card. His feet were down, it wasn’t dangerous and the lad played on.

“He wasn’t hurt and it was the wrong decision, but I thought the referee was influenced by certain things going on with their players and the crowd. I’ll speak to the chairman about appealing maybe, but I’ve been told that’s a waste of time.”

Hendrie received his marching orders just moments after Marc Richards had doubled the Sky Bet League Two table-toppers' lead following John-Joe O’Toole’s first-half goal.

But McNamara argued that, even when the bottom-of-the-table visitors were reduced to ten men, there was little to choose between the two teams.

“I was pleased with a lot of things and I thought we started the second half really well,” he reasoned. “We were getting in behind them and nearly scored twice.

“I thought we were on top before they got the second goal. After the sending off, we also played over 35 minutes against the team who are top of the league and had some good chances, probably more than them, so I was delighted by the response of the players and the team spirit.

“It was a case of fine margins and there didn’t look a big gulf between us and them. We had chances cleared off the line and you couldn’t really see which team was top and which one was bottom of the table.”

McNamara was unhappy, though, with the manner in which his side conceded both goals, saying: “One was from a corner for them that saw Luke Hendrie get blocked and Matty Dixon get drawn out of position, although the referee also gave a free kick against Matty, which wasn’t a foul in my opinion, that led to the corner.

“The other came when they broke away from our own corner and we were punished after a couple of our players switched off. We will look at that and put it right.”

After Hendrie received his marching orders, on-loan Newcastle defender Lubo Satka was given his City debut at right back and could now be offered a chance to stake a claim for permanent selection in that role with the likes of Marvin McCoy and Eddie Nolan having been released.

On Satka’s display at Sixfields, McNamara said: “He got an early yellow card after coming due to a stray pass and that put him on tenterhooks, but he settled in well considering the difficult circumstances. He can play at right back, as well as in the centre of defence.

“We were aware of that when we brought him in and we’ll look at that as an option with Luke looking like he will be out for a few games.”

McNamara confirmed, meanwhile, that former Scotland international Derek Riordan will feature in Tuesday night’s North Riding Senior Cup tie at Guisborough, having not made the Minstermen’s 18-man squad against Northampton.

Winger Josh Carson and keeper Michael Ingham will also play in the quarter-final clash, along with the likes of Callum Rzonca and Taron Hare, while the City chief is pondering whether to give on-loan strikers Bradley Fewster and Ntumba Massanka run-outs after they were unused substitutes at Northampton.

George Swan will figure, too, if he recovers from an ankle injury.