The FA have banned Javier Mascherano, the Liverpool midfielder, for a further two matches and fined him £15,000 for his poor conduct towards referee Steve Bennett after he was sent off in the Premier League game against Manchester United.

Mascherano was originally banned for one match after being shown two yellow cards at Old Trafford on March 23. The ban was increased to a total of three matches because Mascherano, who admitted a charge of improper conduct, continued to protest after he was shown the red card.

The Argentinian, who was suspended for the derby victory over Everton as a result of the dismissal, will now also miss this weekend's clash with Arsenal and the home game with Blackburn on April 13

Liverpool will consider their options before deciding whether to appeal. "Although we received a fair hearing we must now decide whether to appeal on the basis of inconsistency of sentencing for Javier based on past precedents," a Liverpool spokesman said.