Preston North End forward Milutin Osmajic may face a lengthy suspension after allegedly biting Owen Beck during their Lancashire derby against Blackburn Rovers on Sunday.
The Football Association confirmed on Monday that they are “aware of this incident and will be investigating it.”
Beck, on loan from Liverpool, was sent off in the 89th minute of the goalless draw at Deepdale for kicking out at Preston’s Duane Holmes.
Following the ensuing scuffle, Beck angrily claimed to referee Matthew Donohue that Osmajic had bitten him, resulting in a yellow card for Osmajic.
Television replays seemed to show Osmajic, 25, biting the 22-year-old on his upper back.
Notably, Luis Suarez, then with Liverpool, received a 10-match ban in 2013 for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic.
Blackburn manager John Eustace told BBC Radio Lancashire: “Owen’s got a big bite mark on the back of his neck and it’s a shame the referee didn’t see that.”
Both teams ended the match with 10 men – Preston’s Sam Greenwood was sent off late in the first half for a crude challenge on Blackburn midfielder Lewis Baker.
Eustace said: “It’s a very serious incident, no-one likes to be bitten.
“Everyone’s angry about it. It’s not a nice situation to be in. I’m sure the right people will see it and we’ll take it from there.
“It’s a local derby, there’s blood and thunder and bodies on the line.
“Those [Greenwood’s red card] are the challenges that you expect to see in a local derby. They’ll be disappointed their lad’s been sent off and we will be having a man sent off.”
Osmajic, 25, was a record signing for North End when he joined from Cadiz last year and has since scored eight league goals for the club.
Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom, when asked about the incident, stated he hadn’t seen it but told BBC Radio Lancashire, “All I can say is, there no place for that [biting] and we know you can’t do that. Mistimed tackles and things like that are part and parcel of the game, you accept them.
“Anything that’s not, we know how that’s dealt with. But I’ve not seen anything so I’m just going off [the media] saying there’s an incident.
“I can see why Greenwood’s challenge is a red. I’ve seen far worse tackles in the Sunderland game yesterday and they ended up with 11 men and won the game 1-0.
“I think the decisions are pretty easy ones. If that’s going to be a red then no problem.”