Cheltenham Town manager Wade Elliott made clear his disappointment with the officiating in his side's defeat at Bristol Rovers on New Year's Day, claiming Josh Coburn was "six yards offside" for the Gas' second goal.
Aaron Collins had put Joey Barton's side ahead in the 25th minute before turning provider shortly after to set up Coburn for Rovers' second goal, which ultimately proved decisive with Alfie May's second-half strike the only reply the Robins could muster in a 2-1 loss at the Mem.
But Elliott believes his team were hard done by in more ways than one, saying their performance deserved more and the officials made a game-changing mistake. Replays of Rovers' second goal show it was a close call, with a fair question of offside, but it is impossible to be certain without a down-the-line angle.
"I think that's stating the obvious, we did deserve more out of it," Elliott told Gloucestershire Live. "The first goal was a bit of quality from one of the top players in the league, who is on fire at the minute. The second goal was about six yards offside.
"It didn't seem to be, it was. It's six yards offside. It's not even a close one, or a marginal one you can understand the linesman getting wrong. It's six yards. If the linesman's job isn't to look across the line and get offsides. But that was my view on the second goal.
"I am fine with the performance. I am a bit gutted for the players because they deserved more than they got.
"I was angry at the linesman. The only anger really was that we didn't believe in ourselves. Rovers are four points off the play-offs and they should be looking at the play-offs, rightly so.
"I am not getting into that conversation, but if we beat Bristol Rovers today we go above them with games in hand. I want the group to believe what we are capable of. When we play like we did in the second half... It's not lack of effort, it's a young group, not quite being certain of what their capabilities are."
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