Wilson will ask the question on beattie red card

DANNY Wilson believes Sheffield United have “nothing to lose” in appealing against James Beattie’s dismissal.

The Blades striker is facing the prospect of his season being over after referee James Linington showed him a straight red card after a heavy tackle on Exeter City midfielder James Dunne.

With a three-game ban being the mandatory punishment and Beattie already having been dismissed before this season, as it stands he is out of the play-offs even if United reach Wembley.

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Wilson said: “In this day and age, people will watch the DVD and say he did deserve to get sent off. But he didn’t deserve it. The tackle was very, very strong. I would have been very proud of it had I still been playing, I have to say that.

“The fans love to see that type of football. It is not a tackle that will harm anyone’s career. He got the ball cleanly and their guy kicked through him. There is no injury to the boy. If he hadn’t have gone down, would he have sent him off? No. Absolutely not.

“I think the referee reacted to the situation that developed afterwards. That was typical of his game.

“There were three or four tackles that were similar. There were two on Lee Williamson when both players left the ground, went into him and got the ball. But neither was a booking.

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“I am not here to castigate the referee and suggest it is his fault we are in this position. But he made it very difficult for us.”

Beattie’s first dismissal of the season came at champions Charlton in January and on the possibility of an appeal against the red card at Exeter, Wilson added: “We have nothing to lose, that is one thing. We will look at it again. But you will have four people sat on the panel who won’t have a clue about football and they will uphold the decision.

“In the context of the game, there was nothing wrong with the tackle. James couldn’t speak (afterwards), he was so gutted. I know how he feels. James feels he has let us down but he hasn’t. The referee let us down.”

Beattie’s red card added to the disappointment of the final day, though Wilson insists there were plenty of positives to glean ahead of Friday’s first leg at Stevenage.

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He said: “Exeter is a tough place to come. They got a goal right at the death but, let’s be honest, we knew the score at Hillsborough so it had no reflection on us.

“If it had been a different scoreline then our team shape would have been different. From that perspective, I am not really bothered about that. But what a great shift the rest put in.”