A couple of Town players, as well as George Burley, have hit out against referee Phil Dowd's decision not to show Blackburn's Turkish defender Hakan Unsal a red card after he pulled back Marcus Bent as he ran on to a Mark Venus through ball last night.

Venus himself feels the yellow card handed out was not sufficient: "I had a clear view of the incident and Marcus would have been right through on goal.

"He may have been 40 yards from goal but the defender was the last man and I thought he would have got a red card for that."

Marcus Stewart agreed: "I felt Blackburn should definitely have had a player sent off when Marcus Bent was just about clear through and got pulled back by the defender who was the last man. It is those sorts of decisions which are very costly and we may look back at the end of the season and see just how costly.

"But we have to take the positives out of the game and go to Newcastle on Saturday knowing we can get something from that match."

Manager George Burley also felt the decision went against the Blues: "Marcus was in on goal when the lad pulled him back and he should definitely have been sent-off."

Photo: Action Images

Ipswich Town Polls