City are expected to fight Nathan Doyle’s contentious red card from the draw at Bristol Rovers.

Phil Parkinson is likely to appeal the decision after TV replays showed no evidence of Doyle kicking Rovers midfielder Seanan Clucas.

Doyle faces an immediate three-match ban following the stoppage-time fracas after Clucas went in late on James Meredith.

Referee David Phillips also sent off the home side’s Wayne Brown for a second yellow – with Rovers arguing that he got the wrong man.

Fourth official Timothy Wood told Parkinson that Doyle was dismissed for kicking out after Phillips had not given the City boss an explanation.

Parkinson said: “I was right in the middle of it and told the referee he didn’t need to send anyone off. He just had to deal with the lad who made the tackle.

“Doyley assured me he did run over to have a go at the lad. When you see a tackle like that on one of your team-mates, you half expect someone on our team to be frustrated.

“But nobody got kicked, no-one throws a punch and if it’s appealable, we will.”

Parkinson hailed the spirit of his side for equalising three times in Saturday’s 3-3 draw – their 11th game in a hectic five-week spell.

“The way the lads responded shows the immense belief and character in that dressing room,” he said.

“We’ve had loads of games and another long trip down but, in fairness, I thought we dominated.

“We had to do it the hard way. When you score three you expect to win and the way we’ve defended of late, we should do that.

“But you’ve got to remember there were some tired legs out there. We started slowly but were tremendous for the rest of the game and played some great football in difficult conditions.”

City are finally without a midweek game and the squad have been given an extra break from training ahead of Friday’s FA Cup clash with Brentford.

Parkinson said: “I told them before the game that if we got a really good performance, we’d give them plenty of time this week to re-energise the batteries. Mentally and physically they’ve done well and they need it and so do the staff.

“When we come back in the middle of the week, we’ve got to be ready to go again for another run of games. But we’re enjoying it because they are a strong set of lads and good players.”

Meanwhile, Guy Branston has apologised for his reaction to scoring the first Rovers goal.

The former City defender, who only joined on loan on Thursday, nodded home in the opening minute and then celebrated in front of the away end.

Branston said: “It was my first touch for my new club and I let my emotions rule my head. I would never disrespect the Bradford fans like that.

“But I realised what I’d done and I made a point of not celebrating when we scored again.”