Ipswich Town appeal Delaney’s sending off as World Cup-bound defender returns to Portman Road

Roy Keane has revealed that Ipswich Town will appeal against Damien Delaney’s sending off against Scunthorpe – giving the defender a lifeline before tomorrow night’s match against Watford.

Town will face the Football Association’s disciplinary chiefs for the second time this season in a bid to have Delaney’s red card rescinded. The defender’s fate will be known tomorrow lunch time meaning he might still face the Hornets. On the other side of the coin, his suspension could be extended – as what happened when Jon Stead’s red card against Crystal Palace was challenged by the club.

After being bitten before, Keane is taking no risks and he has today recalled Tommy Smith from his loan spell at Brentford. Smith played eight times for the Bees to aid his World Cup bid with New Zealand and would seemingly be the first in line to replace Delaney should the appeal fail.

Keane weighed up the pros and cons of challenging referee Pat Miller’s decision in Town’s 1-0 win over Scunthorpe – the second sending off of the match after Iron skipper Cliff Byrne was also shown an instant red card.

Both dismissals looked a tad harsh although Delaney’s kick at Jonathan Forte was both cynical and pretty dumb. Delaney was sent off for serious foul play – rather than a professional foul like some thought – and was given an instant three-match ban. Like with Stead, this will be increased by one game should the appeal fail and be deemed frivolous.

Video evidence is being sent to the FA’s disciplinary committee to support Town’s case. “We’ve had a look at the DVD and the club are now in the process of appealing,” Keane confirmed to the club website.

Speaking after the final whistle on Saturday, Delaney said: “I don’t know why the referee sent me off. It wasn’t a lunge or anything like that. The lad has broken and I’ve caught him with a trip as I’ve gone to ground. It’s challenge you will see professionals do up and down the country in that situation. It was a foul and a yellow card at worst. I don’t know whether the club will appeal or not. It will be down to the manager. I will just have to get on with it whatever happens.”

Meanwhile, Tommy Smith’s whistle-stop few weeks shows no signs of calming down after he was recalled by Ipswich. Just two weeks after making his New Zealand debut in front of 90,000 people against Mexico, Smith is now set to be named in the Town squad for tomorrow night’s trip to Watford. Under his loan agreement, Smith was due back at Portman Road on April 7, but Keane activated a 24-hour recall clause following Delaney’s dismissal.

Keane revealed that the World Cup hopeful had trained with the Ipswich squad for one day last week and Smith may well have leapt above Pim Balkestein as third in line for a central defensive role. The Town boss said: “We have brought back Tommy as cover and we’ve got Pim as well so we are not too bad for numbers. I was thinking about bringing Tommy back anyway. He’s been training with us and you can see he’s benefited from going to Brentford because he’s been playing games. He’s back with us today and he should be available for the Watford match.”

Delaney’s appeal will be heard at 1pm tomorrow.