Unhappy Barker slams referee

Richie Barker saw Crawley lose 3-0 to Portsmouth and then hit out at referee Darren Deadman for a performance he believes "ruined" the day.

Barker's nine-man side lost their 100% home record in League One on Sunday.

Red Devils midfielders Josh Simpson and Hope Akpan were both sent off for two bookable offences before three goals in 11 minutes from Ashley Harris, Luke Rodgers and Izale McLeod sealed victory for Pompey.

Barker himself was sent to the stands in stoppage time for remonstrating with assistant referee Darren Blunden.

"We spend hours and hours trying to be as good as we can be and then we get a performance like that from the referee that ruined the day for everybody," Baker said.

"I thought up until Simpson's sending-off we were the better team and had the better chances. And then he was sent off with a second yellow that was just ridiculous, he didn't even make contact with anybody.

"There is an element of frustration with Hope Akpan's red, too. I know referees that will say to you 'let's try and keep 11 men on the pitch' but this referee has a previous record of waving his cards about."