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Fleetwood Town boss Joey Barton hit out at referee Brett Huxtable after his side’s 2-1 defeat to Bristol Rovers, claiming the referee put in the worst officiating display he has ever seen.

With the scores locked at 1-1 after a tight first half, Huxtable showed Fleetwood striker Ched Evans a straight red midway through the second period after an aerial collision with the Gas’ Tom Lockyer.

Fleetwood looked like they had done enough to hold on for a point, despite heavy Gas pressure, until James Clarke scored a last-gasp winner, sending the Memorial Stadium into pandemonium.

Barton was sent off in the aftermath of the goal, and he did not hold back in his criticisms of the referee post-match.

He said: “It wasn’t that kind of game, both sides were competing fairly and unfortunately somebody was out of his depth in terms of what he could control and he’s ruined what was a good, honest game of football.

“I’ve seen the replay back in real time and I felt it was a foul on Ched, the centre-half stepped under him and was trying to shepherd him away from the ball.

“Ched went over the top, both of them landed on their backs and the referee deemed that a straight red card.

“We’re obviously incredibly disappointed as it put us down to 10 men for 30-odd minutes, gives them a huge advantage, so we must appeal it because it’s a very unjust decision.

“It’s difficult thereafter to be complimentary about the officiating team because, in my whole career, they’re as bad as I’ve ever come across.

“That’s as bad a refereeing and officiating performance as I’ve ever seen in all my time in the game, that includes junior football.

“Really, really, really poor, Brett needs to have a serious look at his decision making process today because the Bristol Rovers staff that we spoke to before the game had concerns about him as he’s been here and caused havoc before.

“Today you need a good referee to referee a very, very good game and unfortunately he wasn’t able to do that.”

On the game itself, Barton said he could not criticise his side, but also recognised how the Gas were tenacious in their attacking spirit late on, hitting the woodwork twice in added time before the winner.

He said: “Our goal gave us the opportunity to go on and win a game of football, and we undid ourselves from a set play, which is disappointing.

“Then we’re backs to the wall for the second half – the lads were first class, defending the box properly and we almost got there.

“We got within touching distance, fair play to them, they kept knocking at the door and hit the bar and the post, and they got a bit of a deflection and it fell straight into the path of their player, then our keeper has no chance.

“I’m not disappointed with the lads, they gave everything they got and we dust ourselves down.”