Lee Johnson says Charlton Athletic striker should face ban as he criticises refereeing performance in Sunderland defeat

Lee Johnson says he expects Jayden Stockley to be handed a three-game ban, alleging that the officials missed a headbutt on Sunderland defender Tom Flanagan.
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Johnson heavily criticised Darren Drysdale’s performance after a series of contentious incidents at the Stadium of Light.

The Sunderland head coach also felt his side should have had a handball when Ross Stewart’s close-range effort was blocked by Jason Pearce.

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But it was the incident with Stockley that left Johnson most frustrated, given that the went on to score the winning goal midway through the second half.

Lee Johnson in dialogue with referee Darren DrysdaleLee Johnson in dialogue with referee Darren Drysdale
Lee Johnson in dialogue with referee Darren Drysdale

"Jayden Stockley won't be available for the next three games because he's headbutted Tom Flanagan flush in the face,” Johnson said.

“That will have to go to the FA.

“It's an absolute stonewall red card, and he's then gone on to score the goal so that's part of the decision making.

“There's eight sets of eyes who should be able to see that but for whatever reason, they haven't.

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“I felt that there was a penalty for us in terms of their centre-half making a brilliant save.

“It's outside the line of the body. Is it a bit close to the body? That might be a mitigating factor but not when you speak to the referee and he says the arm is behind his body.

“Was it a foul on [Tom Flanagan]? I don't know, there's two hands on him. It would have maybe been a bit soft, considering the level of contact he'd allowed through the game.

“It was like a judo game at times and he's set himself a precedent by allowing that.

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“And then I felt Lynden Gooch was in on goal and he allowed contact which could have been a red card.

“The frustration is, are we coaching our players to wrestle, scrap, elbow, headbutt, whatever? Or will there be protection from the referees.

“I don't mind a bit of rough and tumble but I need to know what I can tell my players.

“You have to give Charlton credit, we've had six wins on the spin at home and they've come out with three points in the bag.

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Johnson said he felt his side did enough to get a point from the game, but also candidly admitted that they had been found unusually wanting in the final third.

"I didn't feel we deserved to lose the game, necessarily,” he said.

Did we deserve to win it? Maybe not. If we'd come in 0-0, 1-1, I think that would have been a fair result.

"There were some key match decisions went against us today, which were unbelievable really.

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“We didn't have enough quality in the final third,” he added.“We've been blessed with some wonderful play and deliveries in the final third.

"You have to give them credit, they've performed very poorly over the last three or four weeks and it makes me sad for Nigel Adkins to see them put that level of effort in.

"As a manager, you feel for another manager there.”

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