Martin Coy will make his third appearance at the Crown Oil Arena when he referees Dale’s home game versus Gillingham on Saturday.

The County Durham official is in his second season on the referees’ list and we saw him twice in the space of two months last term.

Mr Coy firstly refereed the Checkatrade Trophy group game at home to Stoke City U21 at the start of October.

The match ended in a goalless draw, before Stoke won 5-4 on penalties.

Seven weeks later, Martin was back at the Crown Oil Arena for the League One fixture, although on this occasion he was a replacement for the original referee.

Dale were 2-0 winners over Posh thanks to goals from Calvin Andrew and Callum Camps.

The County Durham headteacher refereed 34 games last season, mainly in League One and League Two, as well as six ties in cup football.

He averaged only two yellow cards per match and sent-off just three players.

This season Mr Coy has shown only eight yellow cards in six appointments, which include Grimsby v Forest Green, Barnsley v AFC Wimbledon and Morecambe v Oldham.

Photo: Action Images

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