Coventry City have opted not to lodge an appeal over the three game ban issued to Aron Gunnarsson following his red card last Saturday against Norwich.
As Coventry embark on their festive season round of three games in a week, Gunnarsson will miss the Boxing Day clash at Cardiff, Tuesday's home game against QPR and the home game against Ipswich on New Years Day.
Gunnarsson slipped as he went in to tackle Norwich's Henri Lansbury which resulted in him going in two footed and with his studs showing, which is deemed violent conduct and is an automatic red card.
Norwich manager Paul Lambert agreed the tackle was not malicious, but Boothroyd thinks the referee Chris Sarginson was right to send his player off.
He said to the CT: "It goes down as violent conduct. It obviously wasn't what you or I would call violent but the letter of the law is that if you've got two feet off the floor it's an automatic red."
"We can't argue with that and we won't be contesting the decision, that would be a nailed-on 'frivolous' appeal and they'd just up it to four games. It's disappointing we are going to lose him but what will be will be and it will give somebody else an opportunity."
At the time of the incident, the Coventry's players accused Lansbury of feigning injury to make the incident look worse than it was and Boothroyd had some sympathy with his players. However, he still thought Gunnarsson was wrong and should learn from it.
"He should know better than that," said Boothroyd, "and it's the sort of lesson he's got to learn if he is to achieve his full potential.
"He's one of those players that you can see performing at the highest level in five or six years and doing very well, but he has got a long, long, long way to go. I don't mean that disrespectfully, but right now he's a very talented baby who needs to grow.
"To do that he needs to be in a team that's winning and going somewhere and he's got all those things going for him at the minute."