MANAGER Graham Westley says Newport County AFC will not appeal against the red card shown to Sean Rigg during Saturday's FA Cup tie at Plymouth Argyle.

Rigg was sent off after just 23 minutes for a dangerous tackle on Argyle's Jake Jervis but the Exiles earned a replay after the match ended 0-0.

The midfielder will now be banned for three matches - the League Two matches at home to Stevenage tomorrow and Morecambe on Saturday and next Tuesday's cup replay against Plymouth.

Westley feels the sending off was harsh but believes an appeal would be futile.

"We’ve looked at it and we won’t appeal it," said the Exiles boss.

"I think it was harsh and when you watch incidents like [Manchester United defender Marcos] Rojo [on Everton's on Idrissa Gueye] yesterday that was a red but the referee sees it as he sees it.

"Riggy I’m sure will feel really aggrieved that he’s sitting out for three games while tackles like that are getting away [without a red card].

"It’s the consistency thing but nowadays if you go off your feet in any way it can be argued that there’s danger in it.

"I feel for him because he clearly played the ball and he didn’t make contact with the player.

"He did lunge for the ball but he didn’t lunge in a way that was going to endanger the player in my opinion.

"But the chances of success in an appeal are probably limited because to the letter [of the law] it was probably dangerous.

"Everyone sees things differently and the referee from the angle he was at in the moment saw it as dangerous.

"The footage is at completely the wrong angle from Riggy’s point of view. It doesn’t show it clearly enough and it’s just at the wrong angle to show the truth.

"So it’s a harsh one but we park it and move on."

Westley says the three-match rest will benefit the player.

"Riggy, if I’m honest, probably could do with a breather," he added.

"He’s been playing a lot of football and he’s been brilliant for me since I’ve been here.

"He’s played virtually every minute other than the Wimbledon game when I left him out for a rest and he’s been brilliant.

"But fatigue can set in physically and mentally when you go through the sort of run of games that he’s had and I’m sure we’ll have a really refreshed player coming back in three games time and that will be really positive for us."