Championship player at risk of lengthy ban for alleged biting incident that was previously unpunished

The two Championship rivals battled it out in a tense goalless draw at Deepdale, but the game took a dramatic turn just before half-time when Sam Greenwood was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Lewis Baker.

But an even bigger flashpoint followed on 88 minutes, following Beck’s red card for kicking out at Preston’s Duane Holmes, as players from both sides were drawn into a melee.

'Owen's got a big bite mark on the back of his neck': Preston North End striker Milutin Osmajic in trouble following bite on Blackburn Rovers defender Owen Beck

After players from both of the Lancashire rivals clashed, Beck could be seen furiously protesting to referee Matthew Donahue had been bitten by Osmajic before he left the pitch.

Subsequent replays appeared to show that Liverpool loanee Beck received a bite from the Montenegrin striker on his upper back, something that Rovers boss John Eustace told the media following the match.

"Owen's got a big bite mark on the back of his neck and it's a shame the referee didn't see that,” Eustace told BBC Radio Lancashire. "It's a very serious incident, no-one likes to be bitten.

“Everyone's angry about it,” he added. “It's not a nice situation to be in. I'm sure the right people will see it and we'll take it from there.”

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The BBC report that the Football Association have confirmed that they are "aware of this incident and will be looking into it".

If Osmajic is confirmed to have bitten Owen, he will likely face a lengthy suspension. Former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was handed a ten-match ban for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic in 2012.

Owen Beck is OFF Both sides are down to 10 men pic.twitter.com/8COc4YDE0OSeptember 22, 2024

This was just one of three bites that Suarez has dished out across his career, while ex-Leeds United striker Souleymane Doukara was slapped with an eight-match suspension for biting Fulham's Fernando Amorebieta in 2016.

In FourFourTwo's opinion, if it is proved that Osmajic did indeed sink his teeth into Beck, there is little argument against him receiving a ban of a similar length for reasons that we don't really have to explain here, do we?