Marcus Maddison sent off on his Bolton debut, but his club will appeal the decision, while Fleetwood’s ex-Posh players do their old club a big favour

Maddison had only been on the pitch as a second-half substitute for 11 minutes when he was shown a straight red card by experienced referee Oliver Langford in a match against Morecambe at the University of Bolton Stadium.

Most onlookers felt it was a harsh decision. Maddison has only been sent off twice in his Football League career. His previous red card arrived in the 90th minute of a Posh win over Leyton Orient in 2015.

Bolton manager Ian Evatt insisted the red card would be appealed. He was scathing of the attitude of the Morecambe players during the game.

Evatt told the Bolton News: “Madders has probably been sent off on reputation more than anything else. He’s clearly won the ball one-footed, the lad’s gone for him, and his momentum took him through.

“What is even more disappointing is the way other teams surround the refs and the way they behave.

“Referees have to be stronger, they have to be. They can’t allow teams to be like that. How many times second-half are they just feeling contact and falling over, jumping on the floor, getting free kicks and fouls?”

Maddison tweeted an apology after the game. He said: “I can only apologise to the boys and fans. I’m not a malicious player and the fact I’ve got the ball first, and he then ollows through on me, baffles me more.”

In League One Posh old boys Kyle Vassell and Danny Andrew did their old club a big favour with goals in Fleetwood’s come-from-behind 3-1 win over promotion-chasing Doncaster last night.