Bristol City will 'do all we can' to overturn Dickie red card, says Reds' COO (2025)

Rob Dickie was shown a straight red card in the first half of Bristol City's Championship play-off defeat to Sheffield United at Ashton Gate

Bristol City's chief operating officer Tom Rawcliffe has confirmed the Robins will be appealing the red card shown to Rob Dickie in the first leg of their play-off semi final with Sheffield United, with the hope of having the defender available for their trip to Bramall Lane.

Dickie was shown a straight red card in first half stoppage time on Thursday evening as the Reds were beaten 3-0 by the Blades at Ashton Gate. Goals from Harrison Burrows, Andre Brooks and Callum O'Hare after the defender's early exit were enough to put Chris Wilder's side in the driving seat ahead of the second leg in the Steel City on Monday evening.

Having more than held their own in the opening exchanges in what was their first play-off outing in 17 years, any momentum Liam Manning's side built in the first half vanished just moments before the break when referee Oliver Langford awarded the Blades a penalty and sent Dickie back down the tunnel for what he adjudged to be a cynical foul on Kieffer Moore.

Although Wilder felt that was the correct decision, Manning was left frustrated by the referee's call in his post-match press conference, labelling it a "major error." In the immediate aftermath of the game, the City boss was unsure if the Reds would be able to appeal the decision, however, Rawcliffe has confirmed that it is the avenue the Robins intend to explore.

"We will be appealing the Rob Dickie red card, and we'll need a pretty quick answer to that if he's going to play on Monday," the COO said on 3 Peaps in a Podcast in the wake of the first leg defeat. "We'll do all we can to overturn that, we might not get there, there are two schools of that as there tends to be, but we'd like to have him available for Monday if possible."

"Whichever way we dress it up, it's cruel, isn't it? It's now the focal point of what we're going to talk about, the sending off, and we've worked so hard this season to get to that point," he continued. "You know we're going to appeal it and the referee's decision on the pitch is final, so we knew we had to go in with 10 men.

"It's a particularly cruel to then have to compete against a team who are well backed, with a strong squad. I thought we played well until that point, we were well in the game, but any time just before half time we concede a goal, or any team concedes a goal, it absolutely changes your team talk. Not only have we had to lose a goal from the resulting penalty which they scored, but we've then got to reorganise in that 15-minute period, and that's a lot of work to do against a team who are very strong and very well organised themselves.

"In real time, I could see the penalty coming. The red card wasn't so sure with the double jeopardy rule, but Rob gets a touch on the ball, doesn't he? So he has made an attempt to play the ball. We're biased, of course, we'd want a red card, I think, if it was down the other end of the pitch, but not what we wanted to be talking about today."

Ahead of their trip to Bramall Lane on Monday evening, the Reds are rather short of defensive numbers. While George Tanner, Cam Pring and Haydon Roberts are all more than capable of stepping into the heart of defence if and when required, Zak Vyner will be the only natural and fit central defender available to Manning should Dickie's suspension stand.

Although it already feels like the Robins have a mountain to climb to find a way back into the tie and keep their Premier League dream alive, that challenge will only become an awful lot harder if the former QPR centre-back is stuck on the sidelines.