Nottingham Forest will come face to face with referee Robert Jones against Burnley on Monday barely three weeks after making a formal complaint about the officials during their 3-2 defeat at Manchester United.
Jones was on VAR duty at Old Trafford on August 26, when Forest defender Joe Worrall was sent off and United were awarded a contentious penalty following a tussle between Marcus Rashford and Danilo.
Jones upheld both calls after reviewing the incidents. Worrall was deemed to be the last man when he fouled Bruno Fernandes, even though team-mate Willy Boly was close at hand. And the spot-kick was converted by Fernandes to earn the points for United, who had trailed 2-0 early in the game.
Speaking to Mail Sport football editor Ian Ladyman on the brand new podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off’, co-host and Premier League winner Chris Sutton said Rashford had dived to win a penalty.
‘Stuart Attwell awarded the penalty and it was Rob Jones in the VAR,’ Sutton said. ‘So I understand why Stuart Attwell awarded it in real time, but Rob Jones should be strong enough then to look at it and he had all the angles.
‘It’s either a penalty or it’s not a penalty. It was a dive, I think you agree with that. So therefore, it shouldn’t have been awarded.’
At the time Forest manager Steve Cooper said: ‘In games like this you need things to be how they should. ‘I am not going to talk too much as I don’t want to get into trouble but I was surprised how quickly the decisions were made.
