PHIL Parkinson launched into referee Gavin Ward after ten-man City’s last-gasp loss to Rochdale.

Parkinson was furious with the “shocking” performance of the Surrey official, who sent off Jordan Pickford after just 12 minutes for bringing down Dale striker Matt Done in the box.

Battling City were beaten 2-1 in stoppage-time to end their ten-match unbeaten run and Parkinson was hugely critical of Ward.

He said: “It’s never, ever a sending off. It was an absolutely atrocious decision but that summed up the referee’s performance.

“If that’s the best ref we’re getting and we’ve had to bring him all the way up from Surrey then God help us. That performance was shocking.

“The referees are always saying they need more money for training. We’ve probably paid £250 in expenses to the worst ref we’ve had this season.

“We played tremendously well and it was difficult to tell that we had ten men. It’s a crushing blow when you lose in a manner we did.”