Ipswich Town manager Paul Cook believes Joey Barton was "rightly aggrieved" with referee Stephen Martin on Good Friday after he failed to produce a red card for Tomas Holy.
The goalkeeper rashly came out of his area and wiped out Bristol Rovers striker Jonah Ayunga as he bore down on goal, but the referee only produced a yellow card.
With the Gas 2-1 down at the time and more than an hour remaining, it was a pivotal call that went against Barton's side, adding to a growing list of dubious calls that have gone against Rovers as they sink deeper into the League One mire.
Tractor Boys boss Cook had plenty of sympathy for his opposite number at full time.
"I can only be honest and if I’m the visiting manager I’d expect a red card there," Cook said. "Referees have big decisions to make and big decisions always influence games.
"I know Joey’s been aggrieved leading up to the game with the officials and, in my opinion, today he’ll be rightly aggrieved again. If I was Joey, I would expect a red card.
"Where does that take Joey? He’s got to be careful, because in the end he’s banging his head against a brick wall, because you can’t change the decisions.
"You can phone the referees as many times as you want, but it won’t change anything.
"Hopefully Joey gets the results going in for Bristol Rovers and we’ll concentrate on ourselves."
Rovers have now lost five games on the bounce and are three points from safety with just seven games remaining.
Bristol Live asked Cook if he believes Barton can lead Rovers to a miraculous escape.
"Of course I do, Joey’s had a team in the play-offs last year," he replied.
"Managers are under scrutiny every day and in years to come Joey will be a proven manager.
"He’s a very passionate guy with good people around him and good staff.
"If Bristol Rovers keep playing like they did today, where they dominated the game for long periods, the reality is they will pick up points."
