Tottenham captain Robbie Keane has lost his appeal against the red card he received for serious foul play in the Premier League defeat to Birmingham.
The Republic of Ireland international striker (27) will now serve a three-match domestic suspension as a result of the dismissal for a challenge on Fabrice Muamba as Tottenham crashed to a 3-2 defeat courtesy of an injury-time wonder goal from Sebastian Larsson on Sunday.
Tottenham had argued the decision was harsh and that referee Phil Dowd had consulted with the fourth official before producing the red card. Keane will miss games against Manchester City and Portsmouth and a League Cup quarter-final against the former side.
Meanwhile, Tottenham manager Juande Ramos has reportedly been given the go-ahead to bring in new signings in the January transfer window and has made Espanyol's Daniel Jarque his top target. The £10 million-rated defender has been linked with Spurs to shore up their leaky defence, which has left the club just one point above the relegation zone.
Tottenham have been suffering defensively all season with summer signing Younes Kaboul struggling to get to grips with the English game while Ricardo Rocha and Anthony Gardner have badly under-performed with Ledley King still out injured.
Spurs have the fourth-worst defensive record in the Premier League this season having conceded 28 goals and chairman Daniel Levy has made it a priority to find a world-class centre back.
