Video technology to aid referees is set to be trialled for the first time in the lower leagues next season.

The Football Association are in the process of deciding how best to test the methods to give assistance to officials live during matches.

Plans are in the very early stages, but discussions are on-going and it is likely that a league lower down the football pyramid, outside of the Football League, will be selected to try out different methods and their efficiency.

The video technology will be used to help officials make decisions on red cards, penalties or mistaken identity, if a player has wrongfully be punished for an offence.

Referee Mark Clattenburg sent off West Ham's Cheikhou Kouyate on Saturday

The midfielder's red card for the challenge on Dwight Gayle (bottom right) was later rescinded

The need for referee’s to be given assistance when making decisions was highlighted this week. Mark Clattenburg sent off West Ham’s Cheikhou Kouyate for a challenge on Dwight Gayle in their draw with Crystal Palace last weekend, but the FA rescinded the red card and one-match ban on Tuesday, meaning that more than 14 per cent of dismissals have now been overturned this season.

The FA were one of the leading voices pushing for the introduction of goal-line technology, which has been a huge success in the Premier League, and they are fully behind the prospect of video technology helping referees during matches.

The International Football Association Board (IFAB), the game’s law determiners, approved a two-year trial period in March and early experiments are due to begin at the start of the next campaign.

Once the trails have been conducted, IFAB will have to give the green light for the plans to be rolled out across the whole of English football and abroad.

Head of referees Mike Riley has insisted that key-incident decisions are 95 per cent accurate, but after yet another decision has been called into question, many now want to see officials given assistance during matches to get them right then, rather than have them undermined afterwards.