Wolves' Podence denies spitting at Johnson
Published
Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Daniel Podence has denied spitting at Nottingham Forest forward Brennan Johnson during Saturday's 1-1 draw at the City Ground.
Podence, 27, was charged by the FA on Wednesday. The standard punishment for spitting is a six-match ban.
"I will make it clear: I did not spit on Nottingham's player," Podence wrote on Instagram. I'm telling the truth and I would never do such a thing, even more to a colleague."
The 90th-minute incident was viewed on VAR and referee Chris Kavanagh took no action.
Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui backed his player during his Thursday press conference.
“I will say 100 times he would never spit at anyone, so the club will do everything it can to fight the charge," Lopetegui said. “He was not sent off and the video footage was studied during the game, so again I can say he would not do that and I am not happy about the charge.”
Podence is in his fourth year with the club following a £16.9 million move from Olympiacos.
In 27 league games this season, Podence has six goals.
Wolves currently sit 14th in the table on 28 points with eight matches remaining, just one point clear of 18th-place Bournemouth in the drop zone.
The team is next in action on Saturday with a visit to 11th-place Chelsea.