Interim Everton Boss Unsworth 'Bitterly Disappointed' as Niasse Diving Ban Upheld by FA

David Unsworth has spoken of the 'bitter disappointment' he feels after Oumar Niasse's two-match ban for diving against Crystal Palace was upheld.

The temporary Everton first-team manager told the Liverpool Echo that both he and the striker had been left extremely surprised by the charge and subsequent verdict from the Football Association.

Niasse was charged with 'successful deception of a match official' for winning a penalty against the Eagles last Saturday and, despite the Toffees appealing the decision, that verdict was quashed on Wednesday afternoon.

The 27-year-old will now sit out the Premier League matches against Southampton and West Ham, and Unsworth failed to hide his annoyance at the ruling in his Atalanta pre-match press conference.

He said: "He was shocked and I was shocked. He doesn’t tell lies and he wouldn’t go down without reason. He wants to score goals. Contact or slight contact, it doesn’t matter. We’re all bitterly disappointed.

“We will have to accept the outcome."

Niasse went down under a challenge from Scott Dann in the fifth minute of the 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park and saw his side awarded a spot kick by referee Anthony Taylor.

The Senegal international drew criticism from Palace and other critics for going down easily in the area, but there was still widespread condemnation of the FA after they made Niasse the first English top flight star to be hit with the newly implemented charge on Tuesday.

Unsworth went on to add that he had no issue with the rule itself, but maintained that the FA had made a rod of its own back by charging the Everton player, despite there being contact between Niasse and Dann.

He remarked: “I think it's a great rule but I don't think it changes my stance. Contact is contact and my view won't change on that. Anywhere on the pitch it’s a foul.

“I think these people will be very busy if that’s going to be the case. You will have to look into every foul across the board.

"We don’t want contact taken out the game. I am all for protecting players but we do have to have experts who know what a foul is and those who don’t know the game it’s a dangerous precedent that could be set if decisions go against you that are debatable.”