Burton Albion may appeal Hope Akpan's red card against Middlesbrough, says Nigel Clough

Nigel Clough believes Adam Clayton's early foul on Matty Lund was worse than the one that saw Burton Albion's Hope Akpan dismissed in Tuesday's 2-0 loss at Middlesbrough.

The Albion boss has also said that the club will consider appealing the decision once they have watched footage back of the challenge.

Akpan became the second Burton midfielder in as many games to see red when he caught Boro's Lewis Baker late in the 77th minute at the Riverside, following Jackson Irvine's two bookings in Saturday's 4-1 loss at Hull City.

Sixty-seven minutes before summer signing Akpan was given his marching orders, Boro's midfield metronome Clayton was late into a 50-50 challenge with Lund and caught the Northern Ireland international on the shin with his studs up.

Neither challenge looked pretty and both appeared to deserve some form of punishment.

But Clough believes there was an inconsistency for one to end in red and the other to receive a lesser sanction - and he says rival boss Garry Monk agreed.

"I'm looking forward to seeing it again," he said.

"Hope said he's got the ball. There was no great reaction from any of their players, I didn't think. We might be on the end of another harsh one.

"I tell you what I did see - I saw the worst tackle of the game after 10 minutes on Matty Lund, which Garry Monk agreed was a red card.

"When the tackle went in, I said that it's no different from the other one and he (Monk) said, 'I completely agree'.

"So I don't mind him sending Hope off if he's going to be consistent all the way throughout the game and send it off.

"But the challenge on Lund was the worst challenge of the game, and he (Clayton) got away with a yellow card."

While Irvine will be available to return against Birmingham City on Friday after serving a one-game ban, Akpan is in line for a three-match suspension that would rule him out until after the international break.

The Brewers may yet appeal his red card, though, depending on how they view replays of the incident.

"The worst thing about Hope's is it'll be a three-game ban if it goes through," added the Burton boss.

"But we'll have a look at it and see if it's worth appealing."