COLCHESTER United are assessing whether or not to appeal Junior Tchamadeu’s red card against Bristol Rovers.

U’s right-back Tchamadeu was given his marching orders in the closing minutes of his side’s 1-1 draw with the Pirates in their League Two clash, on Tuesday night.

Tchamadeu became embroiled in an altercation with Rovers substitute Trevor Clarke near the technical area and both players were shown a straight red card by referee Graham Scott.

The 17-year-old now faces a three-match ban and U’s boss Hayden Mullins says they will assess the footage before deciding whether or not to appeal.

Mullins said: “We’ll have to have a real good look at it.

“From what I saw, it looked like he was just holding him (Trevor Clarke).

“Someone told me that a punch was thrown but I didn’t see that.

“I was quite close to it but my main concern was trying to get Junior away from it.

“The problem Junior has is that he’s just found his way into the team and now he’s got to sit out of the team for three games.

“It’s a really soft one for Junior and a poor red card – I don’t think it’s deserved.

“He’s a young boy and when that happens when you’re holding someone who has thrown a punch, you’re trying to keep your distance and all of a sudden, you’ve got so many people who are flying in it’s hard to let go and get pushed around a bit.”

Gazette:

Mullins believes Noah Chilvers’ equaliser after coming off the bench against Bristol Rovers further emphasised the character of his players.

Chilvers' fine strike was the second successive match that a substitute has netted a late goal for the U’s, following Sylvester Jasper’s winner in the closing stages of their 1-0 win over Harrogate Town, last weekend.

“The squad for us is a huge thing and it’s a team game,” said Mullins.

“We always speak about that in the dressing room – being a team out there on the pitch and helping each other through.

“The boys who come on and the impact they have, I think it shows the character of the boys on the bench.

“It’s not easy being left out of the team or be a substitute and to come on and have an impact in the way that the boys do is first class and credit to them – they need to keep it going.”

Meanwhile, Colchester will examine the injury that forced midfielder Cole Skuse off at half-time in the Bristol Rovers game.

Mullins added: “We’ll get Cole assessed.

“He’s got a knock so we’ll have to have a look at it and assess it.”