The performance of the match officials in Tuesday's Championship encounter at Nottingham Forest left Unitedites scratching their heads and Kevin Blackwell choosing his words carefully.

"I can't say what I want to say, the game, in terms of that, is wrong," said Blackwell. "A manager should be able to come out and say what he wants to say otherwise I don't see the point of the interviews. As managers we cannot speak our minds in press conferences because we get punished by the FA for berating the officials.

"There were a lot of decisions we didn't get but I have to be careful what I say. The whole crowd was mystified on five or six occasions following decisions... it shouldn't be me talking about the referee, it should be the media. The referee has a responsibility to control the game and I think he lost it.

"It was a big game for both sides, two teams and a crowd full of passion and then there is someone in the middle who doesn't seem to understand it."

The sending off of Darius Henderson, just 40 seconds into the second half following an off the ball incident, particularly frustrated the United manager.

Faced with probing questions on the incident from the press after the game, Blackwell added: "From the kick-off, Anderson has grabbed Darius to stop him going up the line and then has followed Darius into the centre of the park, they put their arms across each other and the Forest lad goes down.

"Whether it is a sending off or not, I'm not totally sure, my issue is what has gone on before it. If he has been sent off for retaliation then surely the perpetrator has got to be dealt with. Darius feels hard done by."