Dan Ballard suspension risk: How many games until second yellow card amnesty?

Sunderland defender Dan Ballard is just one yellow card away from a two-match suspension, but how close is he to the amnesty?

Dan Ballard is still walking a disciplinary tightrope for Sunderland, but how close is he to avoiding a two-match suspension?

Ballard has already served a one-match ban this season. That came in November when he was forced to sit out the 3-1 home win over Birmingham.

That one-match ban was because he picked up five yellow cards in the first 19 games of the season. He has been booked a further four times since then, though, and one more comes with an two-game suspension.

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A suspension is not inevitable, though. There is a second amnesty point, but the question is whether Ballard can get there or not.

So, just how many games does Ballard have to get through without a booking?

When is the second yellow card amnesty in the Championship?

There are two yellow card amnesties in the Championship. The first is 19 games, after which players who accumulate five bookings will not get a one-match suspension.

The second amnesty is after 37 games. If an player can get through his club’s 37th game of the season without picking up his tenth yellow card of the campaign, he won’t be banned when, or if, that caution does arrive.

For Dan Ballard, that means he still has six games to navigate. Those six games are:

Huddersfield (A) – February 14
Birmingham (A) – February 17
Swansea (H) – February 24
Norwich (A) – March 2
Leicester (H) – March 5
Southampton (A) – March 9

It's obviously going to be very difficult for Ballard to get through those games – especially the second three when Sunderland will likely have to do a lot of defending – without a yellow card.

Fellow centre-back Luke O’Nien is in a similar position, but he is two yellow cards away from a two-match ban.

Dan Ballard getting booked less

Although it looks a very tall order for Ballard, there is perhaps still a little hope.

Eight of Ballard’s nine yellow cards came before Michael Beale took over. Six of those were under Tony Mowbray and two came in the games when Mike Dodds was in caretaker charge.

In the nine Championship games that Beale has been in charge for, Ballard has only been booked once. Similarly, O’Nien has only been cautioned once under Beale but regularly went into the referee’s notebook before then.

IMAGO / Ross Johnston

That is probably a clear indicator that Sunderland are a lot less open under Beale than they were previously. Quickly after his appointment, the former Rangers boss said he was keen to reduce the distance between the midfield and defence, and that would certainly explain a lot here.

It appears that the centre-backs are getting a lot more protection in front of them with less space left for opposition players to find, meaning they are a lot less exposed and don’t need to attempt as many tackles as they did before.

It’s still a big ask for Ballard to get through so many games without a single yellow card, though.

Ballard ‘will play his normal game’

Dan Ballard is obviously well aware of the disciplinary tightrope he is walking, and he himself seems to believe a two-game ban is all but inevitable.

However, he says he won’t be holding back in the meantime in an attempt to keep himself out of the referee’s notebook.

“I will play my game as I normally would,” Ballard recently told Sky Sports. “It's obviously disappointing, you know, after five yellow cards getting that one match suspension was frustrating.

“I think when the game starts you don't really think about them things, but yeah, I'm just going to try and last as long as possible because it's going to hurt when I have to sit out for a couple of games.”

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