HUDDERSFIELD Town defender Anthony Gerrard has been cleared by the Football Association.
The 26-year-old centre-back received a straight red card in Town's 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace which would have carried an automatic three-match ban.
But the FA's disciplinary committee upheld Town's appeal against the decision of referee Graham Scott and Gerrard is now free to play against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, Leicester City on New Year's Day and Charlton in the FA Cup on January 5.
The decision backs up the views of both the managers and TV pundits that Gerrard's challenge on Palace wingman Yannick Bolasie was not dangerous and did not merit even a yellow card.
The Football League Show's Leroy Rosenior described it as "a perfect tackle, perfectly timed" while Sky TV's Andy Hinchcliffe added "his right foot didn't seem too high and seemed to play the ball. I don't know why the referee has decided that's a red card."
Town boss Simon Grayson and Palace manager Ian Holloway both said it was not a red-card challenge
Grayson now has a full complement of central defenders to choose from against Wednesday, who are on a run of three successive wins as they visit the John Smith's Stadium.
Peter Clarke started alongside goalscorer Gerrard in the 1-1 draw against Blackpool, when Joel Lynch served a one-match ban for reaching five bookings and Murray Wallace made his debut off the bench (filling in at left-back for the injured Calum Woods).
