Robbo seethes with officials after two penalty decisions in Dons' win over Salford
The ex-MK Dons manager took issue with the referee after the game
Salford boss Karl Robinson was left seething with referee Ross Joyce after he felt the official once again let his side down, this time in the 2-0 defeat to MK Dons.
Ex-Dons boss Robinson felt aggrieved by a penalty decision given against his side in first-half stoppage time, and then a second in second-half stoppage time when Kadeem Harris took a tumble in the box, only to see his appeals waved away.
Joyce had not taken charge of an Ammies game in over a year, but Robinson felt key decisions went against his side in their 1-0 defeat to Carlisle United last season, and then repeated themselves on his return to Stadium MK.
“Let’s speak about the referee,” he said. “We played Carlisle at home last season and got beaten 1-0. A ball bounced, my player is stood still and gets clattered in the back. The referee told me not enough contact. Then we had a ball hit a hand and he didn’t give a penalty.
“It’s the same referee today, he gave a penalty because our player started the contact outside of the box, carried it on and brought him down.
“Then, Harris is in, there is contact with heels and legs, and that’s a penalty. To give one and not the other, we have to question that.
“I want clarification from the same referee who, against my team, could have given us two penalties, but gave one against us. It’s four key decisions he’s got wrong for us.”
Despite the refereeing decisions Robinson felt went against his side, the Salford boss admitted his side were wasteful in front of goal, missing several key chances which could have made those incidents moot.
He said: “We’ve hit the bar with a sitter, we’ve had a number of chances that dropped but they didn’t take them when they came along. That’s on us.
“Territorially from the defensive to the middle to the final third we were better. But when it comes to taking opportunities to score, we just didn’t do that unfortunately, and that’s the bit I go away frustrated with our players.
“Everyone says they’re the best in the league, but if you watched us today, you’d think Salford are a good team. We’re one of the first teams to take it to them.”