CHIEF executive Laurence Jones confirmed Cherries would not be appealing the red card picked up by Lee Bradbury against Leeds, despite the club thinking it was an "exceptionally harsh" decision.

Bradbury was dismissed after allegedly elbowing defender Matt Heath in the second half on Tuesday night.

But Cherries opted against an appeal because there were "no guarantees" of being successful and "not enough clarity to be sure of getting a verdict in our favour".

"We'd have to put up an appeal fee and make a judgement if we'll win, and we're not confident we'd win," explained Jones.

The 32-year-old now has to serve an automatic three-match ban, meaning he misses Saturday's FA Cup tie at Barrow, the Johnstone's Paint Trophy clash against MK Dons and the League One visit to Hartlepool.

It means Cherries will have to make do without two of their most experienced players this weekend, with manager Kevin Bond already ruling out captain Darren Anderton because of a hamstring injury.

Bond described the loss of former Manchester City and Portsmouth frontman Bradbury as "really, really disappointing".

"It's a big blow for us losing him for three games," said Bond.

"We've got Sam Vokes and he's done well for us when we've needed him to.

"But he hasn't got the experience Bradders has and I thought Bradders was excellent until he got sent off.

"He's a good, experienced hold-up player for us. He'll be missed."

Former Spurs and England star Anderton picked up his injury in the defeat to Leeds and will not be fit to feature on Saturday.

The club was last night waiting on results of a scan to determine the extent of the injury.

"I think he's definitely out for the weekend, that's for sure," said the Cherries boss.

"It will be a blow for him and us."

  • LIKE London buses, you wait ages for one to come along, then two pop up at once.

This must be what Cherries are thinking after being handed their second live Sky match of the season - and bagging another £10,000 in TV cash.

The club's League One clash against Hartlepool United on November 17 has been switched to Sunday, November 18 and will be screened on Sky Sports, with a kick-off time of 4pm.

The move comes after Nottingham Forest's scheduled televised encounter with Carlisle was postponed.

TV cameras will be at Dean Court on Tuesday for Cherries' Johnstone's Paint Trophy match against MK Dons.