WINSFORD United must decide whether to defend midfielder Jamie Williams, the fifth Blue to be sent off in the infamous game at Squires Gate.
Williams not only faces a 35-day ban for his straight red-card dismissal, but he is being blamed by the referee for deliberately getting the game abandoned and so faces an additional ban for misconduct. If found guilty, he could be suspended until March.
Manager Dave Twite unsentimentally signed Rob Hope to replace Williams, who he realised could easily miss a huge chunk of the season.
He dropped Williams, a measure which will go down well with the County FA, but is not ditching him.
Twite said: 'I have not been happy with his disciplinary record and he has been picking up too many unnecessary bookings for dissent and that can rub off on other players.
'I have pre-empted his suspension by signing Rob Hope, but Jamie is not only a good player but a great character off the pitch.
'I have spoken to him about the sending off and he is not happy about what the referee alleges in his report. We have to decide as a club whether to appeal against the misconduct charge, though we have no complaints about the sending off.'
United have until Monday to notify the Cheshire FA of what appeals they are making and, of course, they are contesting the charge of failure to control their own players.
If found guilty, they are likely to be heavily fined. But United have said they will appeal against three of the sendings off. They cannot claim they were unfair and admit not being in control of their players, so they have to fight a charge that is damaging to their reputation.
As things stand, the suspensions would take effect from December 22, with Ian Wilkinson, Dave Turner and Neil Harrison all facing 35-days bans; Harrison's second yellow card was upgraded to a straight red by the FA; and Stuart Wellstead faces seven days. Of those four, United will not appeal against the dismissal of Wilkinson, who allegedly threw a punch.
Manager Twite must keep minds concentrated on football itself.
Blues go to Padiham, near Burnley, on Saturday and on Wednesday next week stage the Division Two Cup tie against Great Harwood, postponed because of a waterlogged pitch at the weekend.
Twite has a full squad to choose from, including goalkeeper Chris Kiernan, who had ankle trouble.
