Chris Martin’s season for Bristol Rovers is over after being handed a four-game suspension by the FA for a violent conduct incident against Cambridge United
Chris Martin’s season is over after the Bristol Rovers striker was handed a four-game suspension by the FA for an originally unseen incident in the Gas’ 1-0 win over Cambridge United on Tuesday that constitutes as violent conduct.
The incident was not picked up by referee Daniel Middleton at the time but camera footage identified the offence which occurred in the 41st minute of the game, eight minutes after the striker had missed a penalty. Martin then went on to score the winner in the 87th minute, his 16th and final goal of the campaign.
In a statement, the FA said: “Chris Martin will be suspended for four matches following the EFL League One game between Bristol Rovers and Cambridge United on Tuesday, 16 April. The forward’s behaviour during the 41st minute wasn’t seen by the match officials at the time, but it was caught on camera and he subsequently admitted that it constitutes violent conduct.
That sending off came via two yellow cards shown in the 2-0 defeat at home to Fleetwood Town in February with the suspension meaning that Martin will miss today’s game against Peterborough United and next weekend’s season finale at Wigan Athletic as well as the opening two matches of next season. If the calendar remains similar to this campaign’s, that will be Rovers’ first League One game and a League Cup first round tie.
The 35-year-old still isn’t guaranteed to be a Gas player next season with his current contract expiring this summer but there is a club option to extend by a year with Matt Taylor revealing that discussions are “pushing in the right direction.”
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