Hayden Carter is walking a disciplinary tightrope to avoid a one-match ban in the Championship.

The Blackburn Rovers centre-back has started every league game this season alongside Dom Hyam. However, he could be forced to sit out a match soon.

Carter has already received four yellow cards this season and could be hit with a one-match ban if he is booked again. According to FA rules, players who receive five yellow cards up to and including the 19th league game of the season will be given an automatic one-match suspension. 

That means the defender needs to negotiate the next eight matches without collecting a yellow, having taken four in 11 so far. Rovers' upcoming fixtures include Cardiff City, Millwall, Swansea City, Norwich City, Preston North End, Stoke City, Birmingham City and Sheffield Wednesday.

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The trip to Hillsborough will be Rovers' 19th, which takes place on December 2. After the game, the five-card ban is cut off. Any player who receives ten yellow cards up to and including the 37th league game of the season is handed an automatic two-match ban.

Reaching 15 yellows up to and including the final game of the regular league season carries a three-match ban.

Lewis Travis and Sam Szmodics are both on three cards each so need to avoid two bookings in the next eight games. Five Championship players at other clubs have already hit the five-card threshold and have been banned this season.

Queens Park Rangers' Sam Field, Hull City’s Jacob Graves, Ipswich Town’s Sam Morsy, Leicester City's Jannik Vestergaard, and Stoke City's Ben Pearson have all been suspended.