Bristol Rovers boss left baffled by Bailey Wright call and delivers verdict on 'outstanding' Sunderland

Wright was on a yellow card early in the second half when he again brought down Brandon Hanlan as Bristol Rovers attempted a couner-attack.

Referee Anthony Backhouse reached for his pocket but decided against showing a second yellow.

“I think the turning point in the second half was the foul on Brandon Hanlan by Bailey Wright,” Garner said.

“The referee gets a yellow card out of his pocket and in his hands, and for whatever reason after chatting with Bailey Wright he puts it away and changes his mind.

“That would have been a big moment in the game if they go down to 10 and we get the momentum. As it was, the momentum swung their way and they started playing really well.

“There were a couple of changes we had to make and we lost our flow in the game, but we ground it out. We are a young team and we showed our character today.”

Garner also praised Sunderland’s second-half performance, admitting that they ‘showed their quality’ in the latter stages of the contest.

“I think when you look at the players they’re bringing off the bench like Lynden Gooch and Danny Graham, they’re top players, and I thought [Chris] Maguire for them was outstanding with the pockets he gets into and the problems he causes for teams,” Garner said.

“We worked hard on that and pleased to get out with a point. On another day it might have been three points.

“Defensively, if we’re as solid as that in games this season we’re going to pick up a lot of points away from home.

“Sunderland were very good today,” he added.

"They’re an outstanding team in this division and they showed their quality.

“We had to really grind in that second half, with three enforced changes and we had to move things around, so a really pleasing point at certainly one of the most difficult places to go to in League One.”

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