Gillingham will submit an appeal to the Football Association on Monday to have Mark Bentley’s red card against Bradford rescinded.

Manager Mark Stimson felt the midfielder’s tackle on Paul McLaren was hard but fair and he has the support of his Bradford counterpart Stuart McCall.

“We’ll definitely be appealing against Mark Bentley’s red card,” said Stimson. “Stuart McCall was good at the end. I asked him if he would back me on it and he said definitely. If we get something in writing from him then that might help us.

“I don’t know who sits on these panels and sometimes you waste your money but we’ve got to do it. If we can get that off then that would be a plus because Mark Bentley is a big player for us.”

Gillingham were unsuccessful on their last red card appeal after Mark McCammon had received his marching orders at Aldershot in September.

On Saturday referee David Foster showed Bentley red after the midfielder’s 58th-minute tackle and, according to Stimson, it is was one of several strange decisions by the official.

He said: “For the first goal the free-kick was never ever a foul from Simon King. I hope we get a bit of luck with the appeal. From where I was it looked a great tackle and even their manager said so.

“You want your midfield players to make those challenges and if they didn’t you would want to fine them for not tackling. How he has pulled the red out is amazing. He made some strange decisions all day.”