WORCESTER City's hopes of a top two finish have been dealt a blow by the double dismissal of David Foy and Dan Jones in Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Cambridge City.
Foy will miss three key games after his red card for violent conduct in stoppage time which followed Jones's exit for a second bookable offence.
Both will miss the clash with Bath City at St George's Lane in two weeks time, while Foy will also be ruled out of the trip to Hednesford and the home match with Grantham.
Foy became embroiled in a melee which was sparked by Jones picking up a second yellow for a trip on Leon Gutzmore, with Worcester players believing he had dived.
City manager John Barton had no complaints about either sending off but admitted Foy's reaction was out of character.
"It's disappointing and totally out of character but I saw clearly what happened and it will be dealt with internally," said Barton.
City have slipped to fifth place in the Dr Martens Premier Division following Saturday's defeat with Barton left to reflect once more on a succession of missed chances.
"It's frustrating to say the least," he said. "You can fit that game into a batch of drawn games we have had this season where the game should have been all over. Their goal should have made no difference.
"But the performance was as good as we have played for a number of weeks. I thought it was a winning performance in everything bar the final score.
"We all look at results and quite rightly so, but the performance was good.
Regarding Jones' dismissal Barton said: "I haven't got a problem with the second booking, but we have now had three bookings in the last three games for kicking the ball away, which puts players on a tightrope for the rest of the game."
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