Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel has denied a charge of violent conduct following Sunday’s game with Manchester United at Anfield.
The Slovakian will fight the FA charge for violent conduct.
Skrtel appealed the charge, which was issued on Monday by the FA after examining video evidence, and he insists the contact with de Gea was accidental and not intentional.
No action was taken at the time by referee Martin Atkinson, but was referred to a three-man panel after the match official admitted his view was obscured, as Skrtel appeared to lunge into the United keeper at the end of a combustible contest.
Skrtel spent the last 24 hours discussing the decision to appeal with Anfield top brass, and manager Brendan Rodgers offered some insight into the club’s thoughts when he said: a My reading of it wasna t that he stamped.
“The ball has been played through and it looks like it when it is slowed down, he has caught him with intent. But I didna t see it like that,a he explained.
a He is trying to get the ball. You see his foot up, that is a symbol when a player is just trying to get his toe on the ball because if he does that and the keeper brings him down, it is probably a penalty.a
The Liverpool defender has requested a personal hearing where he will contest the red card handed to him retrospectively by an independent panel of elite officials.
Skrtel will argue that even though he caught the Spanish keeper, the contact was accidental and not intentional,and to support Skrtel’s case the video evidence doesn’t prove any intent. He will claim he was simply a defender trying to get the ball on the wrong side of the field.
The Liverpool defender will learn today the date of the appeal hearing and that could allow the centre back the chance to face the Gunners at the Emirates next weekend, in what will be a crucial fixture for the top four showdown.
A three-game ban would see Skrtel miss Liverpool’s vital Premier League trip to Arsenal on April 4, their FA Cup replay against Blackburn on April 8 and the home game against Newcastle five days later
Liverpool are already without Steven Gerrard for those three game after the club captain was sent off just 38 seconds after coming on as a half-time substitute for a stamp on Ander Herrera and Liverpool will be hoping Martin Skrtel is cleared of the charge so that the central defender is available for those three fixtures.