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Coventry star Brandon Thomas-Asante has been banned for three games after elbowing an opponent. The 27-year-old was caught on live TV swinging an arm out at Norwich’s Pelle Mattsson during the Sky Blues’ defeat at Carrow Road on Monday evening.

The incident was missed by the match officials, but the FA have acted retrospectively to suspend the forward for Coventry’s next three games. A statement read: “Brandon Thomas-Asante has been suspended for three matches following Coventry City’s EFL Championship match against Norwich City on Monday 26 January.

“The player’s behaviour around the 34th minute wasn’t seen by the match officials at the time, but it was caught on video, and The FA alleged that it constitutes violent conduct.

“Brandon Thomas-Asante subsequently admitted the charge against him and accepted the standard penalty for violent conduct.”

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Thomas-Asante’s ban will now see him miss three crucial fixtures for Coventry. He will be unavailable for this weekend’s showdown with Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road, while he will also miss next week’s fixture against Oxford United at the CBS Arena.

Coventry then face arguably the biggest game of their season as they take on second-placed Middlesbrough in a top-of-the-table clash - another match that Thomas-Asante will miss.

Coventry boss Frank Lampard has given his take on the forward’s ban. He said: “I’ve spoken to Brandon about it because it’s not Brandon, it’s not Brandon’s personality, it’s not his manner, it’s not his way.

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“He didn’t mean to do it. And when I say that, it was an instinctive movement from him which we’ve all been guilty of if we’ve been on a football pitch – a moment that you can regret instantly. And that’s where Brandon’s at, and that’s absolutely the case and I stand by him, completely.”

He added: “Sky showed it a hundred times but the incident is the incident and I think he’s going to be dealt with, he is being dealt with. That process is happening already.

“But I defend Brandon completely because I believe it was instinctive and he has regrets over it and that’s that.”

Despite having missed a large chunk of the season through injury, Thomas-Asante has still managed to score ten goals for Coventry this term. The Midlands side currently sit top of the Championship, albeit have seen their lead to Middlesbrough cut to three points over recent weeks.

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