The Black Cats feel the midfielder’s dismissal during their 6-1 defeat was unfair.
Sunderland have decided to lodge an appeal against the red card given to Stephane Sessegnon during their 6-1 Premier League defeat to Aston Villa.
Sessegnon was shown a straight red for a foul on Yacouba Sylla with 21 minutes left in the game at Villa Park.
As it was not a second bookable offence the midfielder will be subject to a three-match ban – which would rule the 28-year-old out for the Black Cats’ remaining fixtures.
The absence of Sessegnon would be a real blow for Sunderland as they try and avoid relegation with just three games left in the season.
Defeat at Villa puts Paolo Di Canio’s side level on points with the Birmingham team and bitter rivals Newcastle United – who also received a six-goal drubbing over the weekend at the hands of Liverpool.
All three clubs are still five points clear of Wigan in the last relegation spot, although the Latics have a game in hand over their competitors with a winnable home fixture against mid-table Swansea.
Sessegnon is considered one of Di Canio’s better players and would almost certainly be one of the first snapped up by another club were Sunderland to get relegated to the Championship.
The Black Cats do have a fight on their hands to stay in the top division of English football, however the fixture list is quite kind to the north east club as they face home ties with Stoke and Southampton in the coming weeks – with the two opponents having nothing really to play for in the league.
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