Ruesha Littlejohn: Birmingham City deducted point for fielding ineligible player
- Published
Blues midfielder Ruesha Littlejohn is now banned for Sunday's final game of the WSL season against Tottenham
Birmingham City have been deducted a point and fined £400 for playing midfielder Ruesha Littlejohn while she was suspended.
The 30-year-old has been given a one-match ban which means she will miss her club's final Women's Super League game of the season against Tottenham.
Birmingham admitted the breach after Littlejohn played all of the 1-1 draw with Reading on 25 April.
The deduction leaves them only two points above bottom club Bristol City.
However, they do have a far superior goal difference, which means that a point in their match at home to Spurs on Sunday should be enough for them to stay up.
Blues were understood to have been under the impression Littlejohn had served her ban in the previous weekend's Women's FA Cup win over Coventry United and put her appearance against Reading down to "a genuine administrative error".
The FA ruling changes the WSL relegation picture going into the final round of fixtures, although Bristol City still have to beat Brighton to have any chance of staying up.
Birmingham are now level on points with city rivals Aston Villa but both sides know that draws in their respective games would almost certainly be enough for them to survive courtesy of their goal difference.
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