Luis Suarez, Paul Mullin & Milutin Osmajic! Liverpool loanee Owen Beck shown red card in biting incident despite being victim in ugly Preston vs Blackburn derby clash that leads to calls for ‘massive ban’

Wrexham-born left-back Beck tangled with Montenegrin forward Osmajic during a fiery derby clash between local rivals Blackburn and Preston. The Lilywhites were reduced to 10 men in that contest when seeing Sam Greenwood dismissed three minutes before half-time, before Rovers restored parity in the numbers department during the closing stages.

In the 89th minute, Beck became involved in an unsightly melee – after tripping an opponent that nudged the ball beyond him. The 22-year-old ended up being ushered off the field, but only after pointing out to the match officials that he was the victim of a bizarre bite from Osmajic.

Those actions - which saw Osmajic chomp onto the back of Beck’s neck - were only punished by a yellow card at the time, but he may face retrospective action. Fans on social media have suggested that the Preston winger will be lucky to avoid a “massive” or “hefty ban”. Another has branded him a “dirtbag” for resorting to underhand tactics in a scuffle that never needed to happen.

The game in question ended 0-0, which would suggest that there was little of note to occur at Deepdale. That was certainly not the case, with the EFL now under pressure to investigate what happened and hand out any sanctions.

Wrexham striker Mullin avoided similar action after opting against sinking his teeth into Birmingham defender Alex Cochrane during a recent 'Hollywood Derby' clash. Ex-Liverpool striker Suarez was, however, punished after being found guilty of biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic during a Premier League tie and Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup.