'The same player punched him 30 seconds before' - John Pemberton reveals Chesterfield defender Josef Yarney has been handed three-match retrospective ban

Yarney was not in the squad for the Spireites’ win at Yeovil Town on Saturday and Pemberton revealed after the game that he had been given a retrospective ban.

Although the FA Cup tie against Stockport had to be replayed after Chesterfield fielded an ineligible player, it is understood that Yarney’s ban still stands.

“The referee’s assessor spotted an incident at the Stockport game and he has been charged with violent conduct and he misses three games,” Pemberton told the DT.

“We have seen it on video and, yes, they come together. The same player punched him 30 seconds before, they come together and Josef pushes him down, he is pushing him out of the way, and the referee’s assessor deems that violent conduct because he has gone down on the floor.

“So today we had no right side and I looked and looked at it and I thought Alex (Kiwomya) went in and did a really good job for us to be fair.

“I put (Jonathan) Smith there to start with just in case they wanted to target him (Jamie Sharman) but Alex went there and did a great job for us.”

When asked if the ban for Yarney came as a surprise, Pemberton said: “Massive surprise. Nothing was said after the game. We just received a letter to say an assessor was sat in the stand and he has deemed it violent conduct.

“You look at it and go ‘are we going to appeal it?’ but they have sent it to three other people who deemed it the same thing so there is no point and we just have to suck the lemon on it.

“I am disappointed with it because nobody mentioned anything on it after the game. The referee didn’t see it, he didn’t get booked. It is something that happens all the time.”

Jordan Cropper missed the match at Huish Park due to a muscle injury and it is not yet known how long he will be out for.