VAR would have changed the game, says a frustrated Barton
JOEY Barton felt his Fleetwood Town side were on the wrong end of a poor refereeing decision in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Hull City.
Grant Mccann’s Tigers were comfortable winners courtesy of goals from Josh Magennis and Reece Burke, while the visitors suffered two significant injuries in the first half.
Ched Evans went off early on after a collision with Callum Elder, before
City’s chief tormentor last month, Harvey Saunders, was stretchered off on the cusp of half-time, after colliding with keeper George Long.
It was that incident which Barton felt could have yielded a penalty, with the score at 1-0 going into the interval, one he says would have changed a game City had been in control of.
“Their lad pushes him into the goalkeeper and we feel it’s a penalty,” Barton said. “That’s kind of been missed in the midst of him being unconscious.
“We actually think it’s a penalty and possibly the goalkeeper handballs the ball outside the box, so on reflection if we’d have had VAR, we may have been going in level at the break rather than two players being stretchered off the park in neck braces and the game plan then is out of the window.”
Barton, who claimed there was ‘bad blood’ between the two sides after last month’s feisty meeting at Highbury, which is being investigated by the FA, says the league fixture at the KCOM in April will be very different
“We’re looking forward to coming back here in the league when it will be a different Fleetwood Town side. I think we’ve learned an awful lot,” he said.