Mark Venus and Juninho Bacuna agree on Dion Sanderson red card - as Birmingham City appeal stance hinted

Mark Venus believes Birmingham City captain Dion Sanderson should never have seen red during Blues' 4-3 defeat to Southampton in the Sky Bet Championship.

The assistant head coach, continuing his step-in role during the absence of Tony Mowbray, couldn't understand why Sanderson was given his marching orders. Blues' skipper was shown the red card in the 62nd minute by referee James Bell when the score was 3-2 to Southampton.

It was a clumsy challenge as Sanderson caught Saints midfielder Will Smallbone just below the knee but the contact was slight and it didn't look at all intentional. The force used by Sanderson was also minimal, with Smallbone definitely making the most of it by dramatically going to ground.

“Listen, football is all about everybody having an opinion on everything but for me, I don’t think it was a red card," Venus said during the post-match press conference. "I don’t think there was any intent, I don’t think there was any malice, I don’t think he tried to hurt him. 

“I think if you send people off every time they put their studs above the ball, then we could all sit here and watch the television to give a lot of red cards. Personally, I don’t think there was any physical movement in his contact. 

“He didn’t drive into him and move his leg into him, he just turned his body and put his foot into it to try and make contact with the ball. Again, we fall foul of an opinion that probably is in the minority of all the people in the crowd," Venus continued. Blues midfielder Juninho Bacuna, who assisted Koji Miyoshi's second-minute opener and scored what he thought was a point-earning 77th-minute goal to make it 3-3, was in agreement with Venus. "No," Bacuna responded bluntly when asked if Sanderson deserved the red. "It wasn't a nasty challenge," the 26-year-old added.

Birmingham are expected to appeal Sanderson's red as the captain will otherwise serve a two or three-match suspension. The appeal process hasn't begun yet - and it isn't absolutely certain to be filed - but the club is understood to be reviewing video evidence from multiple angles to build a case. It's nearly decided.