Everton have been in contact with Professional Game Match Officials (PGMOL) following the two unacceptable yellow cards shown to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, leading to his suspension against Crystal Palace, reveals David Moyes.
Dewsbury-Hall received his fifth yellow card against West Ham United, the Blues’ sixth match of the season on Monday. It was a clean tackle to win the ball and despite no obvious contact with West Ham’s Kyle Walker-Peters or any ill intent, the referee decided to caution the Everton playmaker.
The summer signing from Chelsea also went into the referee’s book during the Anfield derby after he took a quick free kick – a decision that drew public ire from his manager, Moyes and teammate Jack Grealish.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference, Moyes said that the club has been in dialogue with PGMOL over the refereeing decisions. “We have spoken to them, I think they are accepting that both yellow cards were wrong,” said Moyes.
“It is amazing. If you look through his history, I think he only had six bookings last year in total, five the year before. He has never had these numbers at all.
“The last two decisions were terrible – more for the boy. We are going to miss him greatly but he has been back playing regularly and enjoying his football.”
Moyes also confirmed that Jarrad Branthwaite and Merlin Rohl will miss this game as well. “They are both making progress but they haven’t made it on the grass yet,” he added.