Gillingham win appeal against Remeao Hutton’s red card at Grimsby Town with defender available for weekend clash against Salford City

Gillingham will feel the effects of last weekend’s controversial refereeing display when they play Salford City this Saturday - but it’s better now than it could have been.

Remeao Hutton and Jonny Williams were both sent off in a 1-0 defeat at Grimsby, and defender Sam Gale picked up a fifth booking of the season. All three were set to miss out this weekend through suspension.

The Gills had good news in the week as they successfully appealed the red card issued to Hutton, saving him from a harsh ban. He was dismissed for supposedly denying an opposition player an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

Commenting before appealing Hutton’s red, Gillingham assistant manager Richard Dobson said: “Rem was obviously aggrieved. Some of the other boys were saying that and were in close proximity as well. I’m not sure why the referee rushed to make the decision he made.”

Williams’ red card can’t be appealed, as he was sent off for two bookable offences. Gale’s five bookings means he will serve an automatic one-game ban.

“That’s a knock-on effect when you have games like [Saturday’s]” said the Gills assistant boss.

“It doesn’t just hurt you in that game, it hurts you in the following games as well. This is why we have a squad, this is why we need people ready.

“It’s a shame because now we’re talking about disruption to the next week’s team. We spoke about injuries the other day, disrupting team selection, and now we’ve got suspensions as well on top of it.”

Gillingham’s 1-0 loss at Grimsby means it’s now four league games without a win in League 2. They’ve picked up just a point from a possible 12, dropping from first place to fifth in the table.

Weekend visitors Salford won 1-0 against Oldham Athletic last Saturday to halt a run of