Clattenburg backs Kiernan in card row

SUSPENDED star Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has found a seemingly unlikely ally in former Everton nemesis Mark Clattenburg.

- By CHRIS BEESLEY

Dewsbury-Hall, who joined the Blues from Chelsea for £25million in August, will now serve a one-match ban against Crystal Palace on Sunday after becoming the first Premier League player this season to pick up five yellow cards.

The bookings were all picked up in consecutive top flight matches and after being controversially cautioned at Anfield for taking a free-kick ‘too quickly’ for referee Darren England's liking while there were major question marks over the decision by Sam Barrott to punish him for what many saw as a legal challenge on West Ham United's Kyle Walker-Peters at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday as the pair of them went in for a 50-50.