Arsenal loanee Brooke Norton-Cuffy set to miss Rotherham and Sunderland fixtures for Lincoln after alleged headbutt

The sending off will result in a three-match suspension for violent conduct, barring an appeal, which will rule the full-back out of Tuesday’s trip to Rotherham, as well as games against Sunderland and Shrewsbury.

The incident took place in the 66th minute of Lincoln’s 2-0 win at Wimbledon, when the Imps were a goal up.

Norton-Cuffy, 18, tangled with Wimbledon defender Lee Brown before being shown the red card.

Lincoln boss Michael Appleton said after the match that Lincoln could appeal the decision.

“It’s difficult to see from here” said Appleton. “I know he pushed him in the back, but he got pushed as well.

“We’re being told he was sent off for a headbutt. I didn’t see a headbutt and, having spoken to Brooke and all the players, they tell me that Lee Brown kissed him.

“Clearly, if that’s the case, we’ll challenge it as much as we can. We’ll look at the footage first and make sure we don’t make ourselves look stupid.”

Sunderland will travel to the LNER Stadium to face Lincoln on Saturday.

The Black Cats are set to come up against former forward Chris Maguire, who scored a hat-trick in the reverse league fixture at the Stadium of Light in January.

Lincoln moved up to 16th in the League One table following the win at Wimbledon.

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