Blues lodge appeal against Terry dismissal

Chelsea have submitted a claim for wrongful dismissal on behalf of John Terry who was sent off against Manchester City at the weekend.

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Terry was sent off for impeding City striker Jo.

It is understood that Terry will have little chance of his sending-off being overturned as referee Mark Halsey deemed the defender's holding block on Brazilian striker Jo as serious foul play as opposed to a professional foul.

The FA are unable to downgrade red cards to yellow, unless the club can somehow demonstrate that Terry should not have been cautioned.

Team-mate Frank Lampard disputed the dismissal in a post-match interview after Chelsea's 3-1 win at Eastlands, saying: "If you start giving out red cards like that you'll have four or five in a game. Hopefully they'll look at it again and make it a yellow card. It's not a red card when there's two men behind the ball."

Should Terry fail to earn a reprieve, he will miss Sunday's decisive game against Manchester United. Should a three-match suspension be imposed, Terry will also be unavailable for the games against Stoke and Aston Villa.