Mowbray feeling rough over ref

TONY MOWBRAY had reason to smile even after Blackburn’s six-match winning streak came to an end — until someone mentioned Keith Stroud. Mowbray saw his Rovers side climb into the Championship automatic promotion places with a scrappy goalless draw against a determined Huddersfield side. The Blackburn manager was proud of the way his players stuck at it on a saturated pitch, but less than thrilled with referee Stroud’s display. The official refused Ben Brereton Diaz a first-half penalty after a collision with Matty Pearson that began outside the penalty area and ended inside, and later showed Huddersfield’s Duane Holmes a yellow card for clattering into Tyrhys Dolan — with home fans and players calling for a red as the tackle was controversially replayed on Ewood Park’s big screen. ‘I don’t want to hammer the ref,’ said Mowbray. ‘I don’t know what game the officials watched, that’s all. I’ve been involved in football since I was 16. That’s over 40 years. You’ve got to know when a foul’s a foul. You’ve got to know when somebody’s trying to con someone. ‘Keith’s a pretty experienced referee and yet I thought he got a lot wrong. I watched the Brereton penalty and it’s two penalties, not one. If Ben goes down under the first challenge it’s a penalty so he’s punished for being an honest kid. Hopefully the referee is somewhere else next week and messes them up, not us.’ Huddersfield maintain their play-off push in the absence of head coach Carlos Corberan, after he tested positive for Covid-19. Coach Danny Schofield, standing in for Corberan on the touchline, said: ‘Carlos is always on the phone, preparing things. I think the team did him proud. I’ve not had a chance to speak to him yet, but I’ll be speaking to him in the car for about three and a half hours on the way home!’