Eastleigh do not intend to take Saturday's red card fiasco at Newport County lying down.

The Conference South club yesterday took the unusual step of issuing a press statement in the wake of a stormy afternoon in south Wales which saw three ex-Saints players - Francis Benali, David Hughes and Martin Thomas - dismissed for foul and abusive language and boss Paul Doswell sent to the stands by Hereford referee Andy Williams.

"In our opinion, which is substantiated by numerous impartial observers, these decisions were, at best, contentious," the statement reads.

"Francis Benali, who has played in excess of 400 League games and never been dismissed for dissent, was sent off for not walking towards the referee upon his command.

"David Hughes was dismissed for commenting on the fact that the referee was conversing with the Newport players, but refusing to talk to any of our players.

"This followed an incident where the referee and Hughes had accidentally collided, which the referee took exception to - even though the collision was completely accidental.

"Martin Thomas was similarly sent off, supposedly for remarks made to the referee following a dubious decision that the official decided merited a caution.

"Paul Doswell was sent from the dug out, following his protestations to the assistant referee - which again the referee decided to react to by using his ultimate sanction.

"EFC are determined to protest these decisions at the highest possible level. The current laws of the FA do not allow any appeal to the decisions made by this official - but this does not make such decisions correct and we believe that our supporters should be aware of the reality of the situation."