Arsenal and Newcastle United boost as West Ham star ruled out from matches with FA ban

Arsenal and Newcastle United have received a boost ahead of facing West Ham in the coming weeks as mercurial forward Mohammed Kudus will now be ineligible for those matches having been slapped with a FA ban.

The Ghana international has missed the matches against Manchester United and Nottingham Forest after receiving a red card in the 4-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. This Saturday's meeting with Everton was due to be the final match of a three-game ban but the FA have now upgraded that punishment to five games.

Kudus was sent off for a foul on Micky van de Ven in the 82nd minute of that match. The winger appeared to kick out at the defender and went on to push two opponents in the face. Referee Andy Madley has initially brandished a yellow card but upgraded that to red after a VAR check.

The forward was later hit with another violent conduct charge by the FA and that has now been handed down. Kudus will miss clashes against Newcastle United at St James' Park and the visit of Arsenal later this month.

According to a report from the independent regulatory commission, Kudus has said that he is "deeply embarrassed" by the incident and accepted the charge. It read: "MK [Mohamed Kudus] began his letter by apologising, stating that he was deeply embarrassed by his behaviour in the 20 seconds following his foul on Micky van de Ven.

"He accepted that he had lost his cool and said that his behaviour was out of character. He stated that he could not recall the events clearly, but having viewed the footage, he felt that MvdV [Micky van de Ven] had exaggerated the incident as there was minimal contact from him...He accepted that he should not have pushed PS [Pape Sarr] in the face and that his action merited a red card. However, he did not injure anyone, or use force.

"MK [Mohamed Kudus] stated that his preparation for the match had been mentally and physically challenging because he had travelled for a midweek international fixture and had received various negative comments on social media. He referred to his work within the community and in his home country of Ghana, stressing how he tried to be a role model."

Reacting to the red card at the time, Julen Lopetegui criticised the player's actions, which have not helped a tricky start to the season for the Spanish boss. He said: “Unfortunately Kudus is going to be out for three matches because his behaviour was not good and he knows that. He knows he has to improve because this can't happen. I hope it's the last time this happens. I'm sure it is not going to happen [again].

"I talked with him and sometimes you don't have to talk a lot about this kind of situation because he knows it was a mistake. I say, for sure, that he will learn about this incident and his behaviour will handle this better in the future."

It's a big blow for the Hammers ahead of those tricky meetings with the Gunners and the Magpies. Kudus had scored in both of his last two outings, against Spurs and Ipswich Town, before being sent off.