Newcastle United are expected to appeal against Jonjo Shelvey’s five-match suspension and £100,000 Football Association fine after an independent disciplinary commission found the former England midfielder guilty of directing racially aggravated language towards an opponent.

That misconduct charge was imposed following allegations that arguably Rafael Benítez’s most influential player directed racially abusive language towards Romain Saïss, a Moroccan midfielder, in the 87th minute of the 2-0 Championship defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers at St James’ Park on 17 September.

It is understood that at Tuesday’s hearing in Birmingham the three Wolves players called as witnesses gave slightly varying accounts of the alleged insult, with one claiming Shelvey had called Saïss “a smelly Arab”. Another witness is believed to have claimed he heard the word Arab attached to a different insult while the third is understood to have suggested he used the word “Moroccan” in a derogatory context.

Newcastle sources say Shelvey, who has also been ordered to attend an FA education course, continues to maintain his innocence and is adamant he did not use the words in question. It also appears the midfielder was taunted about his baldness before the incident but claims he did not rise to the bait.

Once the club receive the written reasons behind the commission’s decision, which should happen by the end of this week at the latest, they and their lawyers will decide whether to appeal and have seven days in which to do so.

Until any appeal is concluded or the club accept the charge, the suspension will be “set aside”, meaning Shelvey could well be free to play in the Championship leaders’s next three league games, at home to Sheffield Wednesday on Boxing Day and Nottingham Forest on 30 December and at Blackburn Rovers on Monday 2 January.

If the case goes to appeal, it is expected to be heard during the first week in January but the written reasons, normally published on the FA’s website as soon as they become available, will almost certainly be withheld from public consumption and circulated to involved parties only until the matter is finally resolved.

While Newcastle are convinced of Shelvey’s innocence and their instinct is to challenge the verdict, Benítez is concerned about the prospect of potentially losing an appeal and then having his playmaker banned for the vital game against second-placed Brighton on 28 January. Against that their lawyers believe there are strong grounds for an appeal.

Although at least one team-mate of Saïss reported their concerns to Walter Zenga, Wolves’ then manager, immediately after the game and the Italian informed Tim Robinson, the match referee, the misconduct charge was not issued until 8 November.

Matters were apparently complicated by Saïss’s limited English and a lack of video and audio footage, allied to confusion as to what had been said.

A five-game suspension is a minimum mandatory sanction in such cases – the then Liverpool striker Luis Suárez was sidelined for eight games after racially abusing the former Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra back in 2012 – and the FA has the right to appeal against the length of any ban on the grounds of leniency.

In this instance, though, it is understood it is not minded to challenge Shelvey’s punishment. Moreover, it is believed there is no possibility of the ban being extended following an appeal.

Shelvey has emerged as a virtual ever present in an otherwise heavily rotated Newcastle side, with his midfield vision, playmaking skills and passing range regarded as key elements in Benítez’s attempt to return the club to the Premier League.

A £12m signing from Swansea last January, the 24-year-old former Charlton and Liverpool midfielder has six England caps and earns around £80,000 a week. He appears arguably Newcastle’s one “irreplaceable” individual.