Stoke plan to appeal against the controversial red card given to defender Andy Griffin during their 3-0 defeat at QPR.

With the Potters trailing by two goals from Mikele Leigertwood, Griffin was sent off by referee Andy D'Urso two minutes before half-time following what seemed a perfectly good tackle on Hogan Ephraim.

Rangers took advantage and their victory was sealed by Akos Buzsaky's second-half goal.

Boss Tony Pulis said: "I've asked the referee to look at the sending-off again and I'm hoping he'll realise he's made a mistake.

"If Ephraim had the ball at his feet, it would be touch and go. But Ephraim was nowhere near it - the ball was out and free.

"The player was not put in any danger by that challenge. Andy D'Urso didn't have the best view of it and has agreed to have a look at the video."

But Pulis refused to blame D'Urso's decision to send of the Stoke skipper for the defeat - their second in a row following the recent setback against Preston.

"The sending-off knocked the stuffing out of us, but it wasn't a good performance," Pulis said.

"Results-wise it has not been a good week. Things haven't been going for us but the lads are big enough to put that right.

"Take nothing away from QPR. It was their day and not ours. Irrespective of the sending off, we were not at our best."

Leigertwood almost opened the scoring with an own goal when Liam Lawrence's free-kick cannoned off him and onto the underside of the bar.

Just over a minute later, Leigertwood collected Buzsaky's pass and hit a 30-yard drive past keeper Steve Simonsen and into the bottom corner.

Buzsaky also had a hand in the second goal. He crossed from the right and after Rowan Vine went down under a challenge from Griffin, Leigertwood blasted the loose ball into the net from 12 yards.

Griffin's dismissal then left Pulis' side facing an uphill struggle, but they almost scored when Ricardo Fuller latched onto Mamady Sidibe's flick-on and sent a right-footed shot against the post.

Any chance of a Stoke fightback evaporated when Buzsaky extended Rangers' lead.

Ephraim cut inside from the left and found Patrick Agyemang, whose pass into Buzsaky's path enabled the Bulgarian to fire into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area.

QPR coach Luigi De Canio said: "I'd say that was a good afternoon's work.

"We were 2-0 up when the sending-off happened, so I don't think it had a huge bearing on the result.

"One of the best ways to score is to counter-attack, and I was pleased with the way we did this.

"We have beaten the top teams this season and this shows we need to acquire the mentality when playing teams at the bottom of the table that we show against teams at the top.

"Consistency is important, because our position in the table is defined by our performances week in, week out."

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