Wanderers midfielder Gareth Ainsworth is set to miss the Blues' next three fixtures after the club decided not to appeal against his sending-off in Saturday's win over Millwall.

The 36-year-old was shown a straight red card for an alleged elbow on Lions defender Tony Craig shortly after coming on as a second-half substitute, and although manager Gary Waddock disagreed with the decision, he has opted not to make an appeal to prevent the risk of an extra game being added to the ban.

Speaking after the 1-0 victory, Waddock insisted there was no intent in Ainsworth's attempt to win the ball:

"Gareth Ainsworth is an honest player - he's aggressive, but he's not the type of player to throw elbows. He said he hasn't done anything and I take his word for that," he said.

The incident which prompted the controversy

There were suggestions that the challenge - which prompted a 21-man brawl - was a consequence of an incident in the reverse fixture at the New Den, when Ainsworth's boot caught Craig in the face while contesting for the ball.

However, Waddock insists that the former QPR midfielder is not the sort of character to hold ongoing feuds with members of the opposition:

"There was an incident at Millwall where Gareth has tried an overhead kick and it's caught a player, but it's not in his make-up to do that."

Ainsworth will miss the fixtures with Southampton (H), Stockport (A) and Carlisle (H) before returning for the match at Oldham Athletic on March 13th.

Coming soon: Paul Dennis provides the best photos from the match at Adams Park.