Referees’ body PGMOL has accepted that Liverpool midfielder Fabinho should have been sent off for a tackle on Brighton striker Evan Ferguson during Sunday’s FA Cup tie.

The decision was not overruled by VAR, even though it was the type of challenge PGMOL would expect to result in a red card.

Brighton won the match 2-1.

As part of a drive for transparency within PGMOL, the organisation has privately let it be known there was enough evidence to warrant a red card.

It is being stressed that while the challenge was of relatively low intensity, there was a full point of contact from the studs above the ankle from behind.

That should have triggered an intervention from the officials reviewing the game at Stockley Park, with the expectation that referee David Coote would have been sent to the TV monitor and advised to upgrade his decision.

Ferguson had to be helped from the field after the tackle and later left the Amex Stadium on crutches.

Brighton are yet to say what the extent of the damage is.