ROY Hodgson found it difficult to contain his surprise today over the fact that Bolton Wanderers are to appeal against the dismissal of Alan Thompson.

The Bolton player saw red for a late and reckless challenge in Saturday's Ewood derby which has left Jeff Kenna on the injured list.

The Blackburn Rovers boss refused to become entangled in a debate with his Bolton counterpart Colin Todd.

But there is no doubt that Hodgson, like many observers, felt Thompson had to be shown the red card for the foul.

"I'm not going to get involved," he said.

"But we are still trying to get Jeff Kenna fit. It was a very bad challenge which injured our player and there is no way Jeff Kenna is going to stand up and say he wasn't caught by it."

Even Todd admitted the tackle was "reckless", yet he insists on going ahead with an appeal. "We have looked carefully at the match video and believe it justifies an appeal on the player's behalf," said the Bolton manager.

"It was a reckless challenge but there was nothing deliberate or premeditated in the player's mind."

Kenna's damaged ankle - he has been having treatment since Saturday - underlines how much contact was made by Thompson who became the fifth Bolton player to be shown a red card this season.

The Republic of Ireland defender is one of three players who have not been able to join in with the rest of the squad in training so far this week. Colin Hendry and Damien Duff are the others.

Hendry, who returned against Bolton after several weeks out with a knee injury, tweaked the injury again in the early minutes of Saturday's match and Hodgson added: "He did well to carry on."

As the defender did manage to finish the game, it will hopefully not prove a problem with Saturday's game at Arsenal in mind.

Duff, who collected the sponsors' man of the match award, suffered a 'dead leg' from a kick on the thigh.

Meanwhile, the Rovers boss has had discussions with Swedish striker Pascal Simpson who is looking for a move from AIK.

But he will not be taking the matter any further for the time being at least.

"It was nice to meet him but, at the moment, he doesn't solve any problems for us. We simply had a preliminary meeting about potential co-operation," added Hodgson.

Simpson is not expected to be fit to play again until January.

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