Swansea to appeal Naughton red card
The decision to dismiss Kyle Naughton changed the game. (Photo: Reuters)

Swansea City will appeal Kyle Naughton's red card, says manager Alan Curtis.

Curtis - who was given the job until the end of the season only recently - was simply livid after his team's 4-2 defeat to Sunderland on Wednesday, with referee Graham Scott dominating the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

With three tight offside decisions and a soft penalty given, the official's name also dominated post-match interviews with the players and the managers.

His big blunder, however, was Naughton's red card, the right-back cleanly winning the ball off of Yann M'Vila but being dismissed perhaps due to the screams of the Sunderland midfielder.

Curtis has confirmed that the club will appeal the suspension, and they are likely to be successful, but that can hardly cushion the blow of this defeat, with it leaving them just one point above the drop zone.

Dodgy decisions

Andre Marriner was initially meant to referee this match, but he came down with illness just before the game and so the Premier League drafted in Scott to take his place.

Only ahead of the 2015/16 season was Scott moved into the Select Group of referees for the English top-flight, replacing Chris Foy, and so his appointment for this game was perhaps a big blunder from above.

Graham Scott assumed centre stage on Wednesday night. | Photo: Getty
Graham Scott assumed centre stage on Wednesday night. | Photo: Getty

The fixture at the Liberty was a hugely significant one given the situations of both clubs, but it was only the 47-year-old's fourth game in the division and his third all season.

That showed in his naivety throughout, with his assistants not helping him out either as Jermain Defoe's first and second goals both appeared to be offside.

However, Scott was not blameless, giving Swansea a penalty when André Ayew kicked the ground and, of course, sending off Naughton - whilst also failing to give decisions the right way for other less high-profile incidents throughout.