Referee earns managers' ire

QPR manager Neil Warnock and Swansea counterpart Brendan Rodgers were left ruing critical refereeing decisions they felt had cost their respective sides two additional points in last night’s 1-1 draw at the Liberty Stadium.

While both managers were unimpressed by the overall performance of official Lee Probert, their main complaints surrounded two incidents involving Swansea striker Danny Graham.

Graham fired the Welsh side into a 14th-minute lead with a sharp turn and curling strike from the edge of the area, but the QPR defence and manager Warnock were convinced his sixth goal of the season should have been chalked off for handball.

And Warnock was dissatisfied with Probert’s explanation that he had seen Graham handle the ball, but had ruled it was not deliberate.

“I am absolutely pleased with how we reacted with going a goal down but I am disappointed not to get the three points,” he said.

“We are very disappointed at their goal, as you would be. It’s a deliberate handball, he gains an advantage and he wouldn’t have scored otherwise.

“It was a certain handball, the referee said he saw the handball but that it was not deliberate, which disappoints me even more.

“It’s the big decisions that you want referees to get right. I thought there were a number of mistakes but it’s the match-winning ones you want them to get right.

“It was a kick in the teeth, it felt such an injustice at half-time but it spurred us on.”

Warnock’s side dealt with that blow and, driven on by the outstanding midfield triumvirate of Adel Taarabt, Alejandro Faurlin and skipper Joey Barton, they earned a deserved equaliser when Leon Britton’s misdirected header let Jamie Mackie in for his second goal in as many games in the 58th minute.

But Swansea felt they were denied the chance to secure the win when Probert waved away penalty appeals after Armand Traore appeared to trip Graham in the area after 73 minutes.

“It was a clear penalty, I have had the chance to see it from a few angles and it was a definite penalty,” said Rodgers.

“We worked the space really well, Luke Moore got into a wonderful position, Nathan Dyer has done well, Danny has bent his run superbly, got a touch and Traore has made a foul. Normally with the referee so close that’s a penalty.

“I thought it summed up Lee’s performance, which was interesting to say the least.

“He is good lad on the circuit, trying to get experience, but he was very inconsistent right the way through, which did not help is.”

Warnock even supported Rodgers’ claims, adding: “I said to Brendan that I hope it’s the most stonewall penalty he will see this season and we had a good laugh.

“It definitely looked a penalty from where we were.”

Barton, meanwhile, made a quick exit from the Liberty Stadium following the game after his pregnant girlfriend went into labour.

He confirmed the birth of a son this morning via his official Twitter feed.