Jack Clarke apologised to his Sunderland teammates after a needless late booking at Luton meant he will miss the midweek trip to Huddersfield Town. Clarke gave away a foul in injury time at Kenilworth Road and kicked the ball away in frustration, leaving referee James Linington no option but to produce a yellow card.
That was Clarke's fifth booking of the season, triggering an automatic one-match suspension which means he must now sit out the Black Cats' game against Huddersfield at The John Smith's Stadium on Wednesday night. Winger Clarke had been treading a fine line since collecting his fourth caution in Sunderland's defeat at Swansea City on October 8, but had avoided another booking in the last three games ahead of the Luton match.
Had he not been booked yesterday, he would still have needed to avoid a card at Huddersfield and then at home to Cardiff City next weekend before reaching the 19-game cut-off point for five bookings. Sunderland still have three other players on four yellow cards - Alex Pritchard, Luke O'Nien, and Dennis Cirkin - and they must avoid a further booking in the next two games.
