Phil Parkinson accused referee Rob Lewis of failing to cope with the game after City were sunk by a hugely-contentious penalty at Macclesfield.

Lewis Chalmers fired the 65th-minute spot-kick to condemn Parkinson’s side to another away defeat last night.

He said: “The penalty decision is obviously the big one that he’s got wrong but his overall performance was so poor in the second half.

“Maybe this was a big game for him, I’m not sure. But he refereed as if he couldn’t cope.

“Nobody knows what he’s given the penalty for. It’s an absolute mystery. The players and the staff work really hard and we’ve been let down by the officials because they weren’t good enough for the game.”

City lost Robbie Threlfall to a pulled thigh. Luke O’Brien took his place and will take over at Swindon on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hunt’s contract with City has been cancelled by mutual consent.

Full match reaction quotes in today's Telegraph & Argus