IPSWICH Town's third round FA Cup tie could be put back until Tuesday, January 6, after yet another delay in finding out who will definitely be their opponents.

Derek Davis

IPSWICH Town's third round FA Cup tie could be put back until Tuesday, January 6, after yet another delay in finding out who will definitely be their opponents.

Although Droylsden beat Chesterfield at the fourth attempt, the non-league club are now being investigated by the Football Association which could lead to their expulsion.

The FA confirmed they were probing the eligibility of left-back Sean Newton, 20, who scored both his side's goals in Tuesday's second round 2-1 victory over Chesterfield.

Now the Blue Square North club face an anxious wait until Monday of next week, when an FA hearing will decide their fate.

If they lose and appeal then that will delay matters until January 31, by which time it could leave it too late for chesterfield to make arrangements for the tie and that could lead to it being put back until January 6 or 7.

Tuesday night's game was the fourth meeting between the sides. They drew 2-2 at Saltergate on December 9 then their second round replay was abandoned because of fog and again after a floodlight failure at their Butchers Arms ground.

The FA statement said: “The FA can confirm that it is making enquiries into Droylsden's apparent fielding of an ineligible player in their FA Cup Second Round tie against Chesterfield last night.

“The enquiries relate to defender Sean Newton, who picked up his fifth booking of the season on December 9. According to The FA's Disciplinary Regulations, he was therefore suspended for one match from Tuesday, December 23.

“Droylsden were informed of the suspension on December 10, which was then confirmed by the club four days later. Clubs are aware that they are responsible for checking that their players are eligible to play in any given match.

“The matter will be dealt with by an FA Cup Committee hearing on Monday December 29, in order to resolve it before the FA Cup third round match against Ipswich Town on 3 January 2009. All three clubs affected are being kept informed of developments.”

Newton, 20, has been an ever-present in this year's competition.

Town had to await an FA hearing in January 2007 when Bury were eventually thrown out of the competition, setting up a third round tie with Chester for Ipswich, and they subsequently bought their striker Jon Walters.