Leeds United's owner Andrea Radrizzani has vented his frustration following the club's unsuccessful appeal against Pascal Struijk's red card.
Struijk was shown the straight red card after a challenge which saw Liverpool's Harvey Elliott dislocate his ankle. The tackle initially looked to be an excellent one, with the Leeds defender coming away with the ball and referee Craig Pawson waved play on. However, Elliott's injury quickly became clear and play was stopped with Struijk sent off shortly afterwards.
Leeds felt that the card was issued due to the outcome of the challenge, rather than the severity of the tackle itself and Radrizzani called the decision to dismiss the club's appeal 'inexplicable', demonstrating the sense of injustice that those at the club feel now that they are denied the services of Struijk in a crucial run of games.
In a tweet sent in reply to the breaking news today, the Italian wrote: "Inexplicable! Even the unlucky Elliot said clearly it was not a foul. It is human to commit a mistake during the game but when we do have VAR and time to evaluate and make a rational decision, that's very hard to accept."
As referenced by the Leeds chairman, Elliott has given his thoughts on Instagram and felt Leeds should have been successful in the appeal.
With the ban upheld, Leeds will now be without Struijk for Friday night's crunch match against Newcastle United, as well as fellow centre backs Robin Koch and Pascal Struijk, who are both carrying injuries.
Liverpool were comfortably leading 2-0 at the time of the incident, in a game where Elliott had been looking very bright after being offered an opportunity in midfield for the Reds in these early stages of the season. For now, his promising season is curtailed.
