Suspended star Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has found a seemingly unlikely ally in former Everton nemesis Mark Clattenburg.

Dewsbury-Hall, who joined the Blues from Chelsea for £25million in August will now serve a one-match ban against Crystal Palace on Sunday after becoming the first Premier League player this season to pick up five yellow cards. The bookings were all picked up in consecutive top flight matches and after being controversially cautioned at Anfield for taking a free-kick ‘too quickly’ for referee Darren England’s liking while there were major question marks over the decision by Sam Barrott to punish him for what many saw as a legal challenge on West Ham United’s Kyle Walker-Peters at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday as the pair of them went in for a 50-50.

The exasperated 27-year-old, who with the upcoming international break, won’t be able to kick a ball for a ball for almost three weeks until his side go to Manchester City on October 18, subsequently took to social media to vent his frustrations. Writing on X (formerly Twitter), Dewsbury-Hall said: “Forgive me if I’m wrong, and I might be, but some of these decisions are so hard to take. Mind...