The Football League has announced who will be officiating Tuesday evening’s promotion six-pointer between Brentford and Leeds United.
Referee Robert Jones has plenty of experience, taking charge of over 200 games across the top four divisions of English football, and he also knows what it’s like to referee crucial pressure cooker matches for Leeds.
The last time he officiated a Leeds match was on New Year’s Day, when Leeds came away from the Hawthorns with a 1-1 draw against West Brom.
Baggies boss Slaven Bilic was left raging after the result, after he deemed that Jones made a mistake not to give his team a penalty following a coming together between Mateusz Klich and Romaine Sawyers in the box.
"I saw it after the press conference. I said after the game the ref had a good game, considering the magnitude of the game, and still he had a good game,” Bilic said after the game.
"But that’s a penalty. There’s no discussion about it. To tell you completely the truth, still I can’t say it that loud because the games I watch are bird’s eye view - technical, so you see the whole pitch.
"Always you see the whole pitch, so it’s not like a combat, like Saving Private Ryan, they’re not aiming it from up there - still, you don’t need it for this.”
Going further back, Jones has previously officiated eight Leeds matches, of which only one, the first, ended in a defeat for Leeds.
On that occasion, it was a 1-0 loss to Ipswich Town during the Thomas Christiansen era, a match in which Eunan O'Kane was shown a straight red card in the first half for violent conduct.
He made his Premier League debut shortly before Christmas, officiating Sheffield United’s 1-0 win away to Brighton & Hove Albion, but he’s not been in charge of a top-flight game since.
He’s got a reputation as a fairly lenient referee, and he’s not shown a single red card in the 22 matches he’s taken charge of this season, though he has awarded six penalties from 15 Championship games.
