"We admitted at the time that there was a reaction, but there were reasons why Shaun reacted like he did," the City boss said.
"We hoped that there would have been a little bit of leeway where the decision makers were concerned, but unfortunately I think the FA has to go by the letter of the law.
"They will support the referee's report, so unfortunately we will miss Shaun for the same length of time that Stoke will be without Rory Delap. That does not seem correct in my view, but that's where we are.
"There will always be grey areas open to debate, but I just think Shaun's case should have been judged on its own merits. Shaun has been really hard done by because of the severity of the punishment.
"It's a blow because he has been playing really well, he has such a positive impact and his work-rate is such that he always causes a threat to teams. But there is nothing we can do now, we just have to get on with it."