Dan Ballard is walking a disciplinary tight rope ahead of Sunderland’s upcoming fixtures.

Ahead of the Black Cats’ forthcoming matches against Rotherham United and Preston North End, Sunderland defender

Dan Ballard is treading carefully when it comes to discipline.

This Friday at the New York Stadium in the Championship, Sunderland will play

Rotherham United. Next up for Michael Beale’s team is a match against Preston

North End at the Stadium of Light on New Year’s Day, which comes before the

major FA Cup matchup with Newcastle United on January 6.

At the MKM Stadium on Boxing Day, Beale’s team defeated Hull City 1-0

thanks to a late strike from Jack Clarke. Despite this, Ballard now has eight

yellow cards after being cautioned against Bristol City last week. Ballard, the

former Arsenal defender, faces a two-match ban if he receives his ninth and

tenth yellow card in the next two league games.

That had prompted questions from Sunderland fans with many wondering if that would mean Ballard would miss the

clash against Newcastle United in the FA Cup should he be cautioned against

Rotherham United and Preston North End.

The Echo reached out to The FA and The EFL for clarity regarding suspensions and can confirm that cautions are

competition specific as are the suspensions which arise from

accumulating them. That means that Ballard will be suspension free for the

game against Newcastle United even if he picks up two cautions during the next

two games against Rotherham United and Preston North End.

FA rules state that: “If a player receives two yellow cards in a cup campaign, they

will be suspended for the next fixture in that competition. However, any single

yellow cards are expunged following the quarter-final stages.”

Red cards, however, are not competition-specific, therefore depending on which

game the red card occurred in and the duration of the punishment, a

Sunderland player who gets sent off during a league game prior to the FA Cup

match may miss the match against Newcastle United.

According to FA regulations, a player will face misconduct charges if they receive

20 yellow cards in a league season. Ballard finds himself in a difficult

situation because Sunderland has only played 24 games, which is the cut-off

point for players who are approaching 10 yellow cards in the Championship.