Sunderland are appealing appeal against the red card shown to defender George McCartney in Sunday's 1-0 loss to Manchester City. McCartney was shown a straight red card by referee Steve Tanner for "denying a goalscoring opportunity" after tugging the shoulder of Shaun Wright-Phillips on the edge of the area.

Tanner did not initially appear to see the incident, and only produced the red card after talking to his assistant Mo Matadar.

"There was some sort of contact but the goalkeeper had got the ball in his hands," Black Cats boss Ricky Sbragia explained.

"The referee asked the linesman a question but there was no definitive answer. They ummed and ahhed a bit and came up with that. It was the pivotal moment."