Former Leeds United defender Danny Mills has surprisingly backed the FA's decision to hand Whites winger Jordan Steven a six-week ban from football for breaching betting rules.

The 19-year-old admitted placing 59 bets last season, which included five Leeds games. As a result, he was hit with the ban earlier in the week, which also prevents him from training with the club.

Whilst the Championship side accepted the player warranted punishment, they were unhappy Stevens can't continue to train and it was also revealed he wouldn't be allowed to take an office job with the club.

Yet, Mills told Football Insider that the rules are clear and indicated this was the right decision from the FA.

"You know the rules, you’re told them all the time. If you do it and you get caught, and I hope everyone who does do it gets caught, you have to take your punishment. I don’t think six weeks is harsh, especially when you think that can only be six games. It’s not massive, is it?

"If he’s not going to be playing for the first-team, is it really a punishment not to be playing for the under-23s for six weeks? Not really. What proportion is the fine of his wages? You’re only going to get a couple of weeks, max, out of that – not a lot in the grand scheme of things.

"It has to be a warning shot, whether you’re young or not, you’ve broken the rules and you have to take your punishment."

The verdict

This seems slightly harsh from Mills, even if you can understand where he is coming from.

However, an issue as complex as this shouldn't be black and white. They need to work on ways to help Stevens, and other players, who find themselves in this situation and banning them from all forms of football seems excessive.

The punishment of not letting him play in games for six weeks is fair but to stop him training and interacting with his teammates seems as though it could do more harm than good and you'd have expected Mills to recognise that.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.