Wrexham back in top six as Parkinson to send dossier to head of referees

Phil Parkinson says he will send a dossier of incidents to the head of the Championship's match officials after being frustrated by the penalty his Wrexham side conceded at West Bromwich Albion.

The Baggies were awarded a spot-kick late in the first half at The Hawthorns when Issa Kabore was adjudged to have brought down West Brom captain Jayson Molumby.

Parkinson branded the decision "very, very harsh" and stated he would contact Kevin Friend, referee manager in the Championship, to ask for advice.

"If you give a penalty for that, you're giving three or four penalties every game," said Parkinson.

The Wrexham boss, whose side rallied from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 and return to the top six, added: "Of course, there's contact, but it's only what you see in the penalty box all the time. A very, very harsh decision."

Image caption,

Phil Parkinson has overseen three promotions during his time as Wrexham manager

Josh Maja converted the penalty to put his side 2-0 up after George Dobson had earlier diverted Isaac Price's drilled free-kick into his own net.

In addition to his concerns around the spot-kick against James Morrison's side, Parkinson also raised concerns over the treatment of striker Sam Smith.

Parkinson added: "The second goal is a huge lift for them. You need help from referees and when you get a referee who's refereed at the top level, you expect better.

"I have briefly (spoken to the referee after the game) and the other thing I'm getting very frustrated with is the treatment Sam Smith's been getting.

"Watford away, the amount times he got hauled to the floor, blocked and body-checked. I sent all the incidents to the head of the referees and he agreed with me on nearly every one.

"We then go to Sheffield United and [Japhet] Tanganga pulls him down which is a straight red card and the free-kick gets given against Smudge (Smith).

"Today, there's a slide wall pass which is putting him clean through and [Nat] Phillips just tugs him. It's only slight contact, but it's a red card and I feel Smudge needs more protection.

"I'm going to send all those instances together and ask the referees over the next two days to give me some answers because he's had some bad decisions against him, Smudge."

West Brom's interim boss Morrison said he felt the penalty decision was justified given his previous talks with match officials.

"The referees at the start of the season said they were going to punish that. I'm yet to see it, so I'll take it all day," he said.

"I did feel that he (Kabore) was pulling Jayson, so correct decision."

But Parkinson added: "I'm always in communication with Kevin Friend, the head of the referees, because he's a great guy and he listens.

"But when the ref reviews those instances tonight, he'll know I'm right and he's wrong."

Despite going two goals behind in the first half, Wrexham left The Hawthorns with a point.

Josh Windass netted his 12th goal of the campaign to pull the Red Dragons back into the match.

George Dobson then levelled, although the goal may well be credited to Lewis O'Brien after the midfielder stated Dobson confirmed he did not get a touch on O'Brien's goalbound effort.

The point lifted Wrexham back into the top six of the Championship ahead of Tuesday night's mouth-watering contest with play-off rivals Southampton at Stok Cae Ras (20:00 BST).

"Fantastic response after the break," said Parkinson. "We were a bit passive in the first half if we're honest.

"We come in at 2-0 down and we ask the lads for character first of all, an improvement in our quality of our play and take our whole game up five to 10 yards up the pitch, and we did that brilliantly in the second half."