Ex-referee clarifies why Blackburn Rovers striker was sent off against Burnley

The 26-year-old was sent off in bizarre circumstances during the East Lancashire derby on Saturday, having been shown a second yellow despite being fouled by Maxime Esteve.

Despite winning the freekick for his side, it was Gueye who was shown his marching orders for waving an imaginary card at the man in the middle, clearly suggesting it ought to have been Esteve who should have faced further punishment.

But Gueye was sent for an early bath and Rovers had to play for over half an hour with 10 men.

Despite the one-man disadvantage, Scott Parker’s men were unable to break Blackburn’s resolve and were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw.

Addressing the incident on Sky Sports’ ‘Behind The Whistle’ feature, ex-ref Chris Foy said Harrington was left with no choice.

"Ahead of the current season, it was reiterated to clubs that clearly gesturing for a yellow card to be shown to an opposition player will be considered as unsporting behaviour and that the player making the gesture would receive a yellow card,” he explained.

"After the Blackburn Rovers' No 9 is fouled, he clearly gestures to the referee that Burnley's No 5 should be shown a yellow card, and then repeats this action several times.

"As he is already on a yellow card, the referee has no choice here but to produce a second yellow and subsequent red card."