Stoke boss Mark Hughes calls for yellow cards to be appealed after Marko Arnautovic's suspension
Tuesday 1 November 2016 15:41, UK
Stoke boss Mark Hughes has called for yellow cards to be appealed against in the wake of Marko Arnautovic's suspension.
The Potters forward earned his fifth booking of the season against Swansea on Monday Night Football, but Hughes claims referee Michael Oliver admitted to making a mistake over the decision.
Bookings cannot be appealed - only red cards - and Hughes has been angered that he will miss an in-form player for Saturday's trip to West Ham.
"Red cards can be overturned, why can't yellows? That's something that needs to be looked at," Hughes said.
"At some point they're going to hurt you because, once you've accumulated a certain amount, you're looking at suspensions, like we are after Marko's booking.
"It's unfortunate the rules don't allow you to question it when the referee acknowledges he's made a mistake. It was a fair tackle. I think the guys have spoken to Michael Oliver and I think he acknowledges that maybe he's made a mistake.
"It was a good tackle. I've seen what he's seen and I can understand, maybe, why he's thought it's a tackle from behind, but it doesn't help us. That's five bookings, we can't do anything about it, and he's going to be missing at the weekend."
Summer signing Ramadan Sobhi impressed as a substitute during Stoke's 3-1 victory, supplying the cross that led to an Alfie Mawson own-goal.
"I could have put more senior players on because it was quite early, but I just felt Ramadan was ready," Hughes added.
"I was really pleased with his output. He's only 19 and made a big leap of faith coming here, but he's got a lot of experience. He's played 60-70 games in senior football in Egypt so he knows his way around a pitch.
"His physicality is good enough as well so that helped him. We've got an exceptional player there. He won't play every game. We will use him sparingly. You sense when you've got an option like that, at some point you have to use him."
