Blue Square Bet Premier rules mean Braintree Town won’t be appealing against the sending off of Kenny Davis in Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat at Tamworth ahead of their trip to Mansfield Town tomorrow.

Davis will be forced to sit out The Iron’s encounter with the Stags along with Matt Paine – who will be completing his own three-match ban – and Adam Bailey-Dennis, who is suspended for totting up five cautions this season.

With defender Ryan Peters looking doubtful with calf and shoulder problems, the Iron’s options will be restricted and they may have thought about appealing against Davis’ red card.

Davis was dismissed after pushing away a Tamworth player who had taken exception to Bailey-Dennis lying on the pitch after being caught on the head by a boot late in the game at the Lamb Stadium.

Boss Alan Devonshire thought the red card was harsh against his captain, but said the club won’t be formally questioning the referee’s decision.

He said: “I have seen the DVD now, but we can’t even appeal against it.

“You can only stage an appeal at this level if there is a case of mistaken identity so it has to stay.”

The Iron will travel to Mansfield looking to get back to winning ways after failing to take a victory in their last three outings.

They did record a 0-0 draw against high-flying Wrexham last Saturday, but only winning one of their last ten Blue Square Bet Premier games has seen them drop down to 13th in the table.

Devonshire’s side have been full of goals until recently, but they have found the back of the net just once in their last three games.

So the expected return of top-scorer Sean Marks from the calf injury that kept him sidelined on Tuesday will be a welcome boost for them.

And left-back Aswad Thomas is also set to come back into contention after he was suspended for the defeat at Tamworth.