Bristol Rovers defender Rollin Menayese was sent off in the latter stages of Sunday’s FA Cup second round draw with Plymouth Argyle at the Memorial Stadium and will now face a ban.
However, the defender who celebrates his 22nd birthday today won’t be suspended for tonight’s EFL Trophy second round clash against Leyton Orient at the Mem.
This will instead come on Saturday against League One strugglers Southend United, once again at the Memorial Stadium.
Rovers boss Graham Coughlan admitted at the weekend that he hoped that the club wouldn’t need to appeal the suspension, and would instead get told by the referee that the card had been rescinded.
This is because the competition is treated as a first team competitive match; however any cautions or disciplinary issues picked up in other competitions including the FA Cup are dealt with separately.
This comes from rule 12.1 on the official EFL website which states: "The competition is a ‘First Team Competitive Match’ for the purposes of the Football Association’s Regulations for Disciplinary Procedures.
"However, the automatic sanctions in relation to cautions and dismissals are treated separately under The FA Disciplinary procedures from other First Team matches."
As a result, Menayese’s ban won’t affect his participation in tonight’s clash against League Two side Leyton Orient, as Rovers look to build on last season’s impressive run in the competition where they reached they semi-final stage before being beaten by Sunderland.
Generally, the rules are quite strict on how many changes teams are allowed to make in their selections, with teams having to play at its “full available strength”.
A qualifying player is deemed as someone who, started the preceding first team fixture, starts the first team fixture which follows the tie, is in the top ten number of appearances in first team fixtures in the same season, has played forty or more starting fixtures not limited to the same season, or is on a standard loan from a Premier League club or an EFL Club who operate as a Category One Academy.
If these rulings are ignored, then clubs could be forced to pay up to a £5,000 fine.
So, for Coughlan, having Menayese available for tonight’s game against the O’s is a major boost both for the game tonight and in terms of complying with the rules which are in place for the competition.
Rovers advanced to the second round of the competition after beating Swindon Town in the final match of the group stage, to top Group F of the Southern section ahead of Chelsea under 21s.
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