BEN Clark is facing three games on the sidelines after Hartlepool United decided not to appeal against the red card he received in Tuesday's LDV Vans Trophy defeat at Scunthorpe.

The Pool midfielder's return to the side ended when he was sent off in injury time after a foul on Ian Baraclough.

Pool boss Martin Scott was incensed with the decision and remonstrated with referee Grant Hegley at the final whistle.

But, despite Clark joining Michael Nelson on the suspended list and Scott without at least four defenders through injury for the weekend game with MK Dons, Pool have grudgingly accepted the red card. "It was not a malicious tackle at all,'' insisted Scott. "Yes, it was a foul and yes, it was a yellow card at worst, but it was not a red card.

"It should have been a booking and I may have told the referee that at the end.

"The Scunthorpe player was just that little bit quicker to the ball, that's all.''

Scott was disappointed with the reaction of the referee in dragging Clark away from the incident, which raised tempers among the home side.

"The player was up pretty much straight-away but all their lads were there and making a fuss. The referee has reacted to it all and it's very disappointing.

"Ben was devastated and totally gobsmacked by it all.

"We had a penalty and a sending-off go against us on Saturday and the same happened again at Scunthorpe. There was a penalty appeal against Neale Collins and then you think something might happen next time. And we got a rough decision with Carl Jones - the ball was played at him, there was no intent.

"Things are really going against us at the moment.''

But Scott added: "Tuesday was the best we have played this season as an attacking force. We played a lot of good football and missed a lot of good chances.

"Eifion Williams was looking very sharp up front and he could have scored five, easily. Of course he's disappointed not to have scored but he really caused the back line problems all night.''

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