Saints to appeal Svensson dismissal

Last updated : 03 September 2002 By Christian Kelly

Svensson was ruled to have deliberately handle the ball in the final minutes of the game. Svensson was red carded and Tottenham were awarded a penalty from which they grabbed all three points.

Saints don't seem too optimistic about their chances of getting the sending off reversed, due to the controversial nature of the incident.

Gordon Strachan said: ' If the referee, Michael Dean, admits he was wrong to send off Svensson then it was not a penalty either. He has to be consistent.

''For that reason I believe he will stand by his decision.

''I still believe it was very harsh to send off a player like that. There was no way he could avoid the shot because it was hit at him from a very short distance.''

I can't see Svensson's card being overturned. The referee would just be admitting he got it entirely wrong and had cost Saints a point.