Everton boss David Moyes has been speaking to the media before Saturday’s FA Cup third round tie against Sunderland at Hill Dickinson Stadium (kick-off 12:15 GMT).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
After confirmation Michael Keane’s red card and ban will not be overturned, Moyes said he is “hugely disappointed” and “hugely surprised” with his anger more at the three-person team that made the ruling: “Because as a panel, it is the panel who sits and looks at it. I know who the three of them are on the panel. I am absolutely amazed that they didn’t in any way overturn it.”
He continued: “To say it was violent conduct. We saw it last night [in Arsenal v Liverpool draw] it is OK to throw a ball at somebody, OK to push them, lift them up with a bad injury. But a little pull of someone’s hair accidentally means that there will be a three-game ban is quite extraordinary to me.”
Moyes said he was “more embarrassed for whoever was on VAR” to give a young referee “a terrible decision”, and on the officials missing a challenge from Wolves’ Hwang Hee-chan.
He added: “What Keane has done is a three-game [ban] and a sending-off, but the tackle was a nothing in the game and not recognised by VAR or the referee and nothing was given for it. It sounds as if they have got all the things in the wrong places at the moment.”
The Toffees boss feels the recent decisions that have gone against them are “hard to take”. He was asked about Jack Grealish’s second yellow card for applauding the referee: “I thought Jack was wrong, but since then I have been shown other players who have clapped the referee, and it has not returned in another booking or a sending off. We have seen handballs that we have not been given as well. So yeah, I do think there have been a few [go against Everton].”
On being short on numbers with no players set to return for this game: “Look, on some occasions we have to blame ourselves. It is not everybody’s fault for it. We have injures, we have people at Afcon, players sent off that shouldn’t be sent off. We are not here blaming everybody else. We get ready for another game.”
On if their current situation changes their January transfer plans: “It does a little bit. Obviously, we’re a few more players down, again. But again, we are out looking, which means we are trying. But there is a good chance that trying doesn’t get to anything.”
On trying to have a good FA Cup run: “For any club, there is no-one who doesn’t want a good cup run or to win the FA Cup final. But it’s a harder thing to do these day. Start tomorrow and hopefully we can have a good road to it.”
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