'Incredibly harsh' Matt Doherty ban extension for France game irks Stephen Kenny

Stephen Kenny has been left frustrated by the decision to extend Matt Doherty's red card suspension to two games which means he will miss next Thursday's crucial Euro 2024 qualifier in France.

The Wolves wing-back was sent off during the Republic of Ireland's 2-1 defeat to Greece in Athens and subsequently served a suspension in the following game against Gibraltar.

However, earlier this week it was confirmed that UEFA had increased the ban to a second game which means Doherty will be unavailable for next week's trip to Paris to face the 2022 World Cup runners-up.

It comes as fellow right-sided defender, captain Seamus Coleman, remains sidelined by a knee injury, leaving Kenny short of experienced and natural options available on that flank.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport, the Ireland manager said he felt that Doherty should not have received more than a yellow card in Athens.

"I was really disappointed with that," he said on the decision to extend the suspension from one to two games.

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"To be honest, it's only a yellow card in my view, the incident. He's walked over and shouldered the player who's absolutely hit the deck and maximised the opportunity to get Matt sent off.

"Now, obviously, he's got two matches for that then. So it's incredibly harsh. We've had very good discipline. We haven't had any players sent off in a long time.

"I thought to get two matches doesn't seem fair really or doesn't seem consistent with what's happening elsewhere."

Kenny added that attemps were made to prevent