CHERRIES will tomorrow discover whether Simon Francis’s red card at Leicester will be overturned after confirming to the Daily Echo that an appeal had been lodged.

Francis was sent off by referee Andre Marriner following a second-half incident which led to the Foxes being awarded a penalty during the 0-0 draw.

Cherries’ stand-in skipper was deemed to have fouled Jamie Vardy, his challenge preventing the striker from having a clear goalscoring opportunity.

However, while Riyad Mahrez’s spot-kick was saved by Artur Boruc, replays of the tackle appeared to suggest Francis had won the ball fairly.

The offence carries an automatic one-match suspension, meaning Francis would miss Cherries’ FA Cup third round clash at Birmingham.

Francis and Cherries boss Eddie Howe initially indicated they would accept the ban as it was a game the defender would probably have been rested for.

However, the club has decided to contest the decision on the grounds it could affect Francis’s disciplinary record later in the season.

Had he accepted the ban and then received a second sending off this season, Francis would be hit with an additional one-match suspension.

A club spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Echo that an appeal had been lodged.

Cherries have until 1pm tomorrow to submit evidence to support their claim for wrongful dismissal and must pay a fee of £1,500, which would be refunded in the event of the appeal being successful.

The case will be decided by an FA regulatory commission and neither referee Marriner nor the club or the player are entitled to be present or represented.

According to FA rules, an appeal will only be successful where the commission is satisfied that the referee made “an obvious error in dismissing the player”.

And should the commission consider that any rejected claim had no prospect of success and/or amounted to an abuse of process, they have the discretion to increase the penalty up to twice the standard punishment.