Paddy Kenny's appeal against a nine-month drugs ban has been dismissed by the FA. The Sheffield United keeper - who was handed the suspension last month after failing a doping test - had been challenging the severity of the punishment. An FA statement said: "The Appeal Board dismissed the appeal by Mr Paddy Kenny against his nine-month suspension for a breach of the FA doping regulations. "The Regulatory Commission's decision to impose a nine-month suspension was an appropriate measure of the seriousness of the offence." The Ireland international tested positive earlier this year for the banned substance ephedrine. He was handed the suspension even though the FA accepted Kenny's explanation that he took it unwittingly in a cough syrup.