DARREN Freeman is in deep trouble after his second red card inside a month.

At best he faces a four-match ban and disciplinary action by manager Micky Adams.

At worst the FA could throw the book at Albion's unpredicatble top scorer.

A further extension to the length of his suspension is possible, and not just because he is a repeat offender.

Freeman was sent off for spitting by Premiership referee Rob Harris.

The FA came down hard on Arsenal's Patrick Vieira when he was involved in a similar incident with West Ham's Neil Ruddock.

Oxford official Harris confirmed the reason for Freeman's dismissal after the match, although he did not see the off-the-ball clash with Plymouth defender Jon Beswetherick.

They were running back upfield, close to the touchline and the dugouts, when the linesman waved his flag.

After consulting his colleague, Harris dished out the punishment which has raised another question mark over Freeman's temperament.

Manager Micky Adams then had to push his seven-goal striker away to prevent him compounding his plight.

Adams, with emotions still running high, restricted himself to the briefest of statements in the post-match inquest.

"We drew 0-0 and we are in the hat, which is important," he said. "I am disappointed with the discipline showed by my side."

Adams would not let his players speak to the press, but Beswetherick offered his version of the incident.

"He (Freeman) caught me in the face with his fist just inside the 18-yard box.

"I ran after him to have a word in his ear and on the way back up the pitch he just spat in my face.

"He had to go. Footballers all say that is the lowest thing you can do. It's not as high profile as the Vieira incident and it was probably in the heat of the moment, but I am sure he regrets it now."

Danny Cullip's dismissal 14 minutes later was tame by comparison. He had already been booked for a foul early in the second half on Chris Hargreaves when he instinctively handled a threatening through ball by Paul McGregor.

Adams must get to grips with an appalling disciplinary record, because it threatens to wreck Albion's season.

That is four red cards now after Charlie Oatway bit an opponent's face at Darlington and Freeman stamped on a rival at Cheltenham.

On top of that the caution count is alarming and has already robbed Adams of Gary Hart and Warren Aspinall for the replay at Withdean in eight days time.

Saturday's dose of double trouble overshadowed another effective away performance by Albion against a team now unbeaten in 11 matches.

They made in-form Argyle look very ordinary in an otherwise uneventful second-round tie.

Dave Cameron proved an industrious deputy up front for virus victim Hart, particularly in a first half in which they achieved Adams' familiar objective of keeping the home crowd quiet.

Aspinall should have scored early on when Cameron's slide-rule pass put him clean through 12 yards out, but he shot timidly straight at Jon Sheffield.

The only scare before the break for the Seagulls followed immediately, the recently prolific McGregor narrowly missing the target when Darren Carr let him in.

Plymouth had much more possession in the second half yet rarely looked like exploiting their numerical advantages against a defence which was impressively stubborn again.

Mark Walton made sure the nine men survived in a predictably frantic finish by somewhow stopping an Ian Stonebridge effort with his legs and holding Hargreaves' shot on the turn.

Beswetherick admitted Argyle weren't "bright enough" to break Albion down.

His manager, Kevin Hodges, said: "Naturally I am disappointed. It was a frustrating game for us.

"I felt we were beginning to get on top at the time of the first sending off.

"It's never easy against ten men and when they went down to nine they pulled everybody behind the ball."

The focus now switches back to Albion's home form, with three matches squeezed into a week at Withdean.

They must try to improve their promotion prospects against Lincoln tomorrow and Northampton on Saturday before thinking about the FA Cup again.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.