Danny Drinkwater has accepted a Football Association charge of violent conduct and the Leicester City midfielder will serve an immediate three-match ban.

Drinkwater will be suspended following an elbow on Watford’s Valon Behrami in Leicester’s 2-1 defeat at Vicarage Road on Saturday.

The referee Neil Swarbrick took no action during the game but the FA acted having been alerted to the footage after it ran on social media on Sunday.

Drinkwater will now miss Leicester’s visit of Middlesbrough on Saturday, the trip to Sunderland and the home game with Manchester City on 10 December.

The England international has started every Leicester game this season and helped them into the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday when the Foxes defeated Club Brugge 2-1.

His ban leaves the manager, Claudio Ranieri, light in midfield with Nampalys Mendy struggling with an ankle injury, while Matty James has not played for 18 months following a knee injury. Andy King and Daniel Amartey are the club’s only fit senior central midfielders.

The defenders Robert Huth and Danny Simpson are also just a booking away from a one-match ban.