Key man of Leeds United's promotion rivals faces three-game ban risk after 'off-the-ball incident'

Southampton could be without forward Sekou Mara for three games as they await news on a potential ban for violent conduct.

Mara is facing the prospect of a suspension for his part on an off-the-ball collision with Ryan Porteous during Saturday’s dramatic 3-2 win over Watford. The pair clashed in the closing stages of the game and Southampton’s 21-year-old man could be adjudged to have struck his rival.

Watford manager Tom Cleverley highlighted the incident after the game, insisting Mara should have been shown a straight red card. And now Saints manager Martin has revealed that a retrospective ban could be on the cards.

"We will maybe be without Sekou,” Martin told The Daily Echo ahead of his side’s midweek clash against Preston. "Maybe he gets suspended for three games.

“We're waiting to find out about his off-the-ball incident with Ryan Porteous. I think Sekou might be the only one that misses out and we are likely to find out before we play Preston."

A three-game ban would see Mara miss Tuesday’s visit of Preston to St. Mary’s, followed by visits to Cardiff City and fellow promotion hopefuls Leicester City. Confirmation will likely come before the first of those three games.

That the incident was initially missed could have had a major effect on the promotion race, with Southampton going on to score a 99th-minute winner courtesy of Flynn Downes. The Saints midfielder poked home from a corner but also looked to have handled the ball before scoring.

Cleverley lamented the decision to allow the late set-piece, which came two minutes after the allotted minimum seven minutes of added-time had finished. The Watford boss name-checked Leeds as one of the three automatic promotion hopefuls that could lose out on ‘hundreds of millions’ as a result.

Southampton have two games in hand over Leeds and victory in both would see them pull level on points with Daniel Farke’s side. That could happen as soon as Saturday, with the Whites not in action again until Monday’s trip to Middlesbrough.