Middlesbrough FC win appeal as McNair red card is overturned

The Northern Ireland international received his marching orders from referee Jeremy Simpson following a challenge on Juninho Bacuna nine minutes from time.

The club immediately lodged an appeal against the dismissal - where the punishment was a three-match ban - and the red card has been successfully overturned at an FA hearing on Thursday.

Speaking after the 2-1 success over Huddersfield, livid Boro chief Neil Warnock slammed the original decision to dismiss McNair as 'scandalous.'

He commented: "I said to the referee coming off: 'You did not give it, did you?' and he said no.

"The linesman gave it. He is thirty yards away and has not got an angle and cannot see straight down the pitch from where he is over there. How can he give it? It is scandalous. I don't understand it.

"If the referee had given it, fair enough as he is there. But the linesman cannot give it. Having said that, all night, I thought he was busy and I was not shocked.

"We will appeal against it, definitely. Paddy is distraught. He has not caught Bacuna at all. When you watch the video back, Bacuna is trying to flick the ball away and Paddy has got the ball and does not catch him at all, one bit."

It represents Boro's second successful appeal against a red card this winter.

Back in December, the club appealed against the decision to send off midfielder Sam Morsy in the home game with Luton Town for a perceived deliberate handball - and an FA disciplinary hearing overturned the red card.