Southampton’s Charlie Austin handed three-match ban

Southampton striker Charlie Austin has been handed a three-match ban after being charged with violent conduct for his challenge on Huddersfield goalkeeper Jonas Lossl.

Austin accepted the charge, but his argument that the suspension was excessive was rejected by an Independent Regulatory Commission.

The incident involving Lossl was not seen by officials during Saturday’s 1-1 draw but caught on video.

Austin scored his fifth goal in his last five Premier League starts for the Saints, but in the 32nd minute, eight minutes after finding the net, he caught Lossl around the nose with his boot when chasing a loose ball.

Huddersfield head coach David Wagner took a verbal swipe at Austin following the flash-point.

“After seeing the video footage, this should usually never happen, that an opponent hurts another opponent on purpose,” the German said.

“I don’t like to say this, but it looks this way. Jonas as well was absolutely surprised. This was a nasty challenge and nothing I like to see.

“I think he looks like this challenge was very ugly and nasty. This should never happen. Charlie Austin made the wrong decision in this moment.”

After an hour, Austin missed a golden opportunity to put Southampton 2-0 up, but failed to convert past Lossl despite being in plenty of space.

Austin was likely to miss the remainder of Southampton’s festive fixtures anyway after injuring his hamstring when shooting later in the second half.

Laurent Depoitre’s second-half header sealed a point for the visitors to extend Southampton’s winless run to six matches.

Southampton face Tottenham at Wembley in the Boxing Day lunchtime kick-off, live on Sky Sports Premier League.