Club history sees ex-Leeds United man banned from facing Ipswich Town with next season impact

An ex-Leeds United player has received a ban which will prevent him from facing Ipswich Town next week and also impacts the start of next season.

Defender Liam Kitching began his career with Leeds before departing for Forest Green Rovers in 2019 and the centre-back is now a key part of Coventry City’s squad.

The Sky Blues face United’s automatic promotion rivals Ipswich in a massive game on Tuesday night but Kitching was sent off in Saturday’s goalless draw at Blackburn Rovers and is consequently now banned.

Saturday’s dismissal was Kitching’s third red card of the season and the defender must now serve a three-game ban which will include the first game of next season. Kitching becomes the first player in Coventry’s history to be sent off three times in the same campaign.

As quoted by the Coventry Telegraph, Sky Blues boss Mark Robins said: “That’s the third time this season so he’s got to learn, that’s for sure. And he misses the first game of next season now, which is a huge disappointment for everybody. So we have to look at what we have available to play on Tuesday evening.

Robins added: “From our point of view to get a clean sheet is pleasing, so for us now we have to recover and go again on Tuesday against Ipswich.”