Leicester City winger Abdul Fatawu has vowed to learn from his red card against Coventry and do even more to secure promotion at the end of the season.
The 19-year-old has been a key player since arriving on loan from Sporting in the summer. Not being selected for Ghana at the African Cup of Nations was seen as a boost, but he now faces three games on the sidelines depending on whether City appeal the red card decision.
Fatawu was shown a straight red card by referee Darren England two minutes before added time expired in the first half after a late tackle. The decision came just three minutes after Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall had headed City 1-0 up from the penalty spot.
In the second half, with City playing shorthanded, Coventry had few clear-cut chances, but three late goals resulted in a 3-1 defeat, ending an 11-game unbeaten run.
Late on Saturday night, Fatawu took to social media to react to the red card and send a message to his teammates and fans.
“I’m very disappointed for being the cause of our defeats,” he wrote on Instagram. “I will learn from my mistakes and thank my teammates for the effort they put in, and I thank the fans for their great support.
“Only God knows how desperately I wanted to win this match, and only God knows what’s best. Because I am a student, I will learn from my mistakes and improve. This will make me even stronger to fight for the jersey and give even more to the team to achieve the goal we all want to archive. GOD IS IN CONTROL.”
Ricardo Pereira, who wore the captain’s armband at the CBS Arena, reacted to the announcement; the full-back-turned-midfielder wrote: “That’s it brother, learn from this to be better.”
Hamza Choudhury and Marc Albrighton responded with heart emojis and Mads Hermansen commented with praise hand emojis.
Ricardo took to Instagram to react to the defeat, saying, “We left the pitch the way we entered it. Together. Thank you to all 4 500 fans.”
If City do not appeal the decision, Fatawu will miss City’s next fixture against second-placed Ipswich at the King Power Stadium. The Tractor Boys’ win over Sunderland on Saturday reduced the gap to the Foxes at the top to seven points.
Enzo Maresca will be watching the match from the stands. His complaints that Kasey Palmer did not receive a second yellow card have resulted in him receiving his third yellow card of the season, which means he will have to serve a ban from the pitch.