Preston North End star given huge ban by FA for BITING Blackburn player

Preston North End star Milutin Osmajic has been handed a huge ban by the FA after admitting to a charge of violent conduct during his side's 0-0 draw against Blackburn Rovers last month.

The incident occurred during the latter stages of the second half, shortly after Blackburn's Owen Beck had kicked North End midfielder Duane Holmes.

Osmajic then grabbed hold of the defender, who is on loan from Liverpool, and appeared to bite him near the back of his neck.

Beck was shown a straight red card for violent conduct on Holmes. Osmajic, meanwhile, was booked for dissent, with the bite not picked up by the officials at the time.

The Montenegro international was then charged by the FA with violent conduct, and accepted a charge of being seen to bite an opposing player during the Blackburn match.

As the FA had yet to decide on a formal punishment, as per their rules, Osmajic was free to continue playing, and scored twice in North End's 3-0 win over Watford on Wednesday.

Now, the FA have announced that they have given the striker a huge eight-match ban, effective immediately.

An FA statement reads: "Preston North End's Milutin Osmajic has been given an eight-match suspension and £15,000 fine for misconduct during their match against Blackburn Rovers in the EFL Championship on Sunday 22 September.

"The forward admitted that he committed an act of violent conduct around the 87th minute by biting an opponent.

"An independent Regulatory Commission imposed his sanctions following a hearing. Its written reasons will be published in due course."

On Wednesday, PNE director Peter Ridsdale confirmed that the club had sanctioned Osmajic internally.

He told talkSPORT: "We've already indicated to the player what we're doing.

"I want to keep that obviously in-house, but you can be assured that that's not something that we condone as a football club and we've taken appropriate action."

The striker will return to action on November 23 when North End take on Derby County.

The games he will miss include a Lancashire derby against Burnley on Saturday and the Carabao Cup fourth round tie against Arsenal at Deepdale on October 30.