BURTON Albion are set to appeal Zander Diamond’s red card at AFC Wimbledon after the Brewers skipper was sent off for an alleged headbutt.
The 27-year-old was dismissed with 15 minutes remaining at the Cherry Red Records Stadium on Saturday as Albion held on to draw 1-1 and earn a vital point in their bid to finish in the League Two top seven.
Brewers boss Gary Rowett will look at video evidence before launching an appeal to the FA.
“I didn’t see it, but I’d be very surprised if Zander’s headbutted Balkestein,” he said. “I felt he went down slightly theatrically.
“I was disappointed because there was a lot of tussling in the box and people’s arms were around people and Zander was just trying to free himself.
“We will appeal, there’s absolutely no doubt about that.
“We’re trying to get the footage off the anaylst and we’ll have a look at it and show the referee.”
Rowett was disappointed with the red card as his side was starting to get on top of their hosts after Michael Symes had scored on debut to cancel out Gary Alexander’s opener for League Two’s bottom club.
“I felt the last 15 or 20 minutes would be the key point in the game for us when it could open up a little bit,” he said. “We’d done all the defensive work, we’d done that really well, and then you’re left with no choice but to dig in.
“Anthony O’Connor should really have come off, so we were down to nine-and-a-half men really.
“I thought we defended absolutely brilliantly.
“Earlier in the season, with 11 men, we’d been conceding twos and threes away from home.
“I thought it was an excellent, gritty performance.”
Symes’ fellow debutant for the Brewers did not fare so well.
Alex MacDonald hobbled off with a dead leg after 24 minutes following a robust challenge on Chris Hussey which earned him a yellow card.
He had already almost created a goal for Symes with a pin-point cross that the striker headed against the bar.
“It was an excellent ball in from Alex,” said Rowett. “We know he’s got really good quality and he started the game brightly.
“Symesy, that’s him - he can play a little bit, he can link a little bit and he can be that body in the box.
“He was unlucky not to score before he did.
“But he took his goal really well on his left foot.”
The goal conceded by the Brewers was disappointing as Diamond and Ian Sharps seemed to get caught out by a bouncing ball.
“It was a poor goal to concede,” said Rowett. “You wouldn’t expect Zander and Sharpsy to get in a muddle like they did.
“People don’t mean to do it so you take it on the chin.
“It’s two games now we’ve come back from being a goal down to get a draw and, I keep saying it, the character of the team is fantastic.”
Calvin Zola and Damien McCrory both missed the trip to South London but are expected to be fit for Saturday’s crunch clash against Rotherham United at the Pirelli Stadium.
Sharps, though, will not be available to face his parent club, while Diamond could be suspended.
With Nathan Stanton battling a knee injury, it would leave Marcus Holness as the only recognised centre-half at the club.
“We’ll have a count on Friday morning and see what we’ve got left!” said Rowett. “We’ve spoken about having a strong squad, and against Rotherham we’ll really need it.
“We’re in a good position and we don’t want to drop away from it just because we haven’t got the bodies in the squad.
“I’ll give Calvin a ring now and see if he’s ever played at centre-half!”
