LEEDS forward Samuel Saiz has been banned for six matches for spitting during his side's FA Cup defeat at Newport.

The Spaniard was shown a straight red card by referee Mike Dean for spitting at Newport winger Robbie Willmott in stoppage time at the end of United's shock 2-1 defeat.

UEFA's rulebook punishes spitting with a mandatory six-game ban and the Football Association announced Saiz's suspension on their official website, subject to any appeal.

Dean confirmed after the third-round tie that he showed Saiz the red card for spitting and Leeds could now lose the influential player from their Championship promotion bid until the end of February.

Saiz will be sidelined until the Championship fixture at Derby on February 20 and will miss six league games as Leeds bid to maintain their play-off challenge.

When told of the spitting allegation in Sunday's post-match press conference, Leeds manager Thomas Christiansen replied: "If that's right why he got the red card, then it's a problem.

"This is something we need to talk about. We need to speak and we'll see what happens."

It is not the first time that Saiz has been involved in a spitting row since joining Leeds from Huesca last summer.

Port Vale manager Michael Brown said the player spat at his defender Joe Davis during a Carabao Cup tie in August. The FA did not bring any charges against the 26-year-old on that occasion.