Birmingham City's midfielder Lee Bowyer will be suspended for the next three games after accepting a charge of violent conduct following the game against Arsenal at St Andrew's on Saturday.

The match referee Peter Walton confirmed to the Football Association that had he seen it, he would have sent Bowyer off for a second half tangle with Bacary Sagna close to the Garrison Lane Stand touchline.

That means the FA have the powers to punish retrospectively – they can only do so in cases where the referee has not seen the original incident – and Bowyer will now miss tonight's Premier League game at Blackpool, an FA Cup trip to Millwall on Saturday and next Tuesday's Carling Cup semi-final first leg at West Ham United. He will return for the derby match with Aston Villa at St Andrew's on 16 January.

Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager, told the club's website: "We accept the decision and will now have to move forward into the next three games without the services of Bowyer. We have got a good discipline record at this club and stress to the players every week how important discipline is."