martin skrtel was hit with a three match ban on wednesday for stamping on manchester united goalkeeper david de gea, but the liverpool defender escaped any further action after he appeared to mock the fa by posting a picture of clowns on social media the photograph appeared on skrtel’s instagram account on wednesday morning, shortly before the fa announced that he had been found guilty of deliberately treading on de gea towards the end of liverpool’s 2 1 defeat to their rivals at anfield on sunday the fa are aware of the post but have decided not to take the matter further martin skrtel's foot lands on david de gea's leg in the incident which saw the fa charge the defender  skrtel could have been in more trouble for posting this picture of clowns after the fa upheld his  ban  premier league: arsenal away,  april 4  fa cup sixth round: blackburn away, april 8  premier league: newcastle at home, april 13  skrtel, 30, had denied the fa charge which was brought on the basis of video evidence, after referee martin atkinson confirmed that he did not see the incident with de gea the slovakia defender becomes the second liverpool player to be banned for violent conduct in the game after steven gerrard was given an automatic three game suspension for stamping on ander herrera just 38 seconds after coming on as a half time substitute both players will now miss the trip to third placed arsenal a week on saturday and newcastle’s visit to anfield on april 13, as well as liverpool’s fa cup quarter final replay at blackburn five days earlier liverpool also have a number of injury concerns arising from the united game daniel sturridge (hip) and adam lallana (groin) have withdrawn from england duty, while raheem sterling is expected to do the same after playing in tomorrow’s euro 2016 qualifier against lithuania at wembley skrtel was charged with violent conduct but claimed the alleged stamp was not intentional  a three man panel of former elite officials reviewed the footage after it was missed by martin atkinson (right) brendan rodgers has a major selection headache ahead of the trip to arsenal in the premier league  sterling has been having injections in a toe injury and is unlikely to risk aggravating the problem by playing in tuesday’s friendly with italy goalkeeper simon mignolet has been having scans on an ankle injury at belgium’s training camp after colliding with wayne rooney on sunday and dejan lovren has pulled out of the croatia squad with a recurring abdominal strain lovren would have been an ideal candidate to replace skrtel, who made no secret of his feelings yesterday when the fa announced that he had been found guilty of deliberately treading on de gea’s right shin a three man panel of elite officials reviewed the footage on monday and agreed unanimously that it was a red card offence the 30 year old denied the charge and argued that any contact with de gea was unintentional, but an independent disciplinary commission decided otherwise yesterday captain steven gerrard was sent off after stamping on manchester united's ander herrera on sunday  gerrard will also miss three games after seeing red for this stamp during the 2 1 defeat  an fa statement was released at lunchtime shortly after skrtel had posted a photograph of four clowns on social media in what was interpreted as a clear dig at the authorities the fa have been known to punish thinly veiled criticism before — not least when chelsea manager jose mourinho was fined £10,000 last season for bringing the game into disrepute after making sarcastic comments about match officials following a defeat by sunderland it is understood that they did not think there was enough evidence on this occasion to justify a similar charge against skrtel he is currently in slovakia preparing for tomorrow night’s euro 2016 qualifier against luxembourg and next week’s friendly against the czech republic considering the problems afflicting rodgers and his anfield squad at the moment, it is probably just as well
david de gea martin skrtel sunday blackburn liverpool skrtel arsenal 30 year old newcastle sportsmail manchester united
martin skrtel set to miss games against arsenal, newcastle and blackburn  liverpool defender denied charge of stamping on david de gea  skrtel was not punished during 2 1 defeat by manchester united on sunday  the 30 year old posted a picture of clowns after ban was upheld  sportsmail understands skrtel will face no extra punishment for photo  click here for all the latest liverpool news 