Dan Ballard criticises 'harsh' EFL rule as he prepares to sit out for Sunderland

Do EFL rules disproportionately punish players who play almost every game? Sunderland defender Dan Ballard certainly thinks so.

Dan Ballard says his two-match suspension feels ‘harsh and extremely frustrating’ after he picked up his tenth booking of the season.

Ballard has already served one suspension this season, but he will now be forced to sit out again when Sunderland face Swansea and Norwich.

The yellow card at Birmingham, which looked incredibly soft, was his tenth in 32 Championship matches this season.

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EFL rules only offer an amnesty on ten yellow cards after 39 games, and Ballard believes those rules disproportionately punish players who play most games – especially in his position.

"It's obviously frustrating," Ballard said. "I know I've been on the threshold for a while now so I've had to be a little bit more cautious.

"The way I play I tend to pick up more bookings than others. I didn't feel it was a booking today, but there have been many like that this season.

"It's frustrating having to miss games. I never go to hurt players or whatever so it is frustrating but they are the rules so I'll miss the next two unfortunately.

"When you play most games, most players will sort of get up to that tally. It does feel, I don't know if harsh is the right word, but it's extremely frustrating."

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