Nolan: No ban reprieve

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Hammers accept Nolan red

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce says it would be futile to appeal against skipper Kevin Nolan’s red card for his two-footed lunge on Jack Smith.

Allardyce believes a raft of instructions to referees means there is little chance of the FA rescinding the red card.

Despite losing Nolan inside the opening 10 minutes of the clash the Hammers still managed to beat Millwall 2-1 and open a four-point lead at the top of the npower Championship table.

Allardyce is confident that his side will be able to cope without the former Bolton and Newcastle midfielder.

He said: “It would be frivolous because they won’t change their mind, there are far too many instructions going out to referees today.

“We have got the squad to hopefully compensate now, we’ll get someone to fill in.

“We didn’t do badly without him with 10 men so we should make sure we do all right without him with 11.”