Championship side Derby County have been hit with a £5,000 fine for their players' behaviour after Kelle Roos was shown a red card against Sheffield United at the weekend, the English Football Association have confirmed.

The Dutchman was sent off in the 57th minute of last weekend's match at Bramall Lane, clattering Blades forward Billy Sharp outside the box after the 35-year-old ran through on goal.

Referee David Webb made that judgement that he had denied Sharp a goalscoring opportunity, brandishing a red card and leaving the Rams in real trouble with over 30 minutes of the game still left to be played.

 

 

Whether that sending off was crucial in their loss is unknown, but Sharp's 89th-minute penalty following a handball from Curtis Davies in the box proved to be the difference between the two sides that day, keeping the East Midlands outfit on -2 points following their deduction by the EFL.

This deduction was due to their entrance into administration, with Derby County defaulting on payments on transfer fee instalments and to HMRC during the summer, arguably foreshadowing what was to come this month.

To cut costs, it was recently announced that 20 staff at the football club had been made redundant, with Steve McClaren also taking a less senior role in the Rams' bid for survival until they can find a new owner.

Although this latest fine could have been a larger sum of money, it's still a major blow to a club looking to minimise their expenditure at such a difficult time.

Verdict:

Compared to the club's sizeable wage bill, especially in terms of their playing and coaching staff, a £5,000 hit is a minor drop in the ocean, but you would hope the FA would suspend this punishment until they find new owners who can easily take it on the chin, just as a gesture.

Emotions are inevitably high on the pitch considering their off-field situation - and thus far - Wayne Rooney's players have conducted themselves admirably. So in a way, their anger after Kelle Roos' red card is understandable.

However, there's only so much we can say about this fine because no one apart from Sheffield United and Derby County's players and coaches heard what was said to the referee.

Some of their more experienced heads in Phil Jagielka, Curtis Davies and Richard Stearman should be able to help in preventing this sort of incident from taking place again though - and that's another benefit of having an experienced defence at their disposal.

And in fairness, the whole club have bigger issues to face right now than a four-figure fine with their situation putting things into perspective, so this is something they will need to take on the chin in what promises to be a gruelling remainder of the 2021/22 campaign.