Dan Ballard was controversially sent off for an incident with Wolves striker Tolu Arokodare

Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka argues the case for teammate Dan Ballard after he was shown a red card

Head coach Regis Le Bris has called on Premier League chiefs to review the controversial law surrounding hair pulls.

The Sunderland boss was left annoyed and frustrated when centre-back Dan Ballard received a straight red card by referee Paul Tierney for tugging the braids of Wolves forward Tolu Arokodare in the first half of Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Molineux.

Ballard became the third player to be sent off for a hair pull this Premier League season. It was also the second involving Arokodare, who also had his braids tugged by Everton defender Michael Keane in January. The law reared its head last month when Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez was sent off for grabbing Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s bun against Leeds.

Le Bris said post-match: “We understand the rule and Paul Tierney is a great referee, but the execution of the rule is very hard to digest because I don’t think it is intentional and violent conduct.

“We don’t want to be controversial, we are here to help the game, many people are watching the Premier League and we want to be clean in our behaviours, but football is football.

“It is a duel in the air and with a tall striker [who weighs] 100kg more or less, Ballard is massive as well, so the ball in the air 20 times in a game, many things can happen.

“If the rule is the rule, when you have a striker with long hair, you will have problems because you can’t defend. It was more or less the case. They executed the rule, but it’s a bit hard to digest.”

Sunderland were leading 1-0 through Nordi Mukiele when Ballard was dismissed. Santiago Bueno equalised in the second half for relegated Wolves, as Le Bris’ side missed the chance to move back into the top half.

Asked how similar sendings off can be avoided in future, the Black Cats boss was at a loss. “First of all, we’ll see who is the striker,” Le Bris said. “If he has long hair, we have a problem.

“If they play long, be careful and we’ll see. Sometimes a handball is the same, it’s probably a grey area and with this rule we are at that stage where you have to manage the rule to make it clean for different situations.”

Speaking on BBC Match of the Day, pundit and former England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney wasalso critical of the hair-pulling interpretation.

“That’s why I didn’t grow a ponytail when I was playing,” he joked before more seriously adding: “I just can’t believe that I’m sitting here talking about players getting sent off for pulling hair. I think it’s ridiculous. I think if that’s the rule, the rule has to change because it’s getting absolutely ridiculous.”

Presenter Gabby Logan also highlighted the lack of clarity within the current framework. “Because there is a grey area,” she said. “There has to be some nuance. “And of course, at the moment, it sits in violent conduct. And there will be some which is violent, but not all.”

Rooney added that the physical nature of the game made such incidents difficult to judge consistently. He said: “When you’re playing, it’s a physical game, and you do grab onto the shirt.

“You’re trying to get the upper hand on your opponent. And sometimes if there’s a big flock of hair there, you’ve got to grab it at some point. So, yeah, I just think it’s ridiculous.”