Tottenham Hotspur’s club captain Robbie Keane will serve a three-match suspension after Spurs’ appeal against his straight red-card against Birmingham City was rejected by the Regulatory Commission on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old Republic of Ireland striker will miss Sunday's Premier League game against Manchester City at White Hart Lane, the Premier League match away to Portsmouth the following Saturday and the Carling Cup quarter-final away to Manchester City three days later.

Keane was shown a straight red-card for serious foul play by referee Phil Dowd after a lunging challenge on Birmingham's Fabrice Muamba in Spurs’ 3-2 defeat to City - a win which City sealed with a stunning injury-time goal from Sebastian Larsson.

Tottenham had been confident they would win the appeal after video replays showed that the decision had not only been a harsh decision by Dowd, but that the referee also appeared to seek clarification from the fourth official before issuing the card, something that is not allowed.

Speaking after the match on Sunday evening, Gus Poyet, the Tottenham assistant manager, said: "When you are a player like Robbie, doing so well, it hurts to get a decision like that. I don't know who was refereeing because he (referee Phil Dowd) asked the fourth official.

"The referee is supposed to be in charge of the game and he should be the one who makes the decisions. I don't know how you can ask the fourth official to confirm a decision. You have to make decisions in a split second and sometimes one person can make a mistake. But when it is two, it is disappointing."

Vitally for Tottenham, Keane will now be available for the North London derby against Arsenal on December 22, due to Spurs meeting Manchester City in the League Cup on December 18.