Neil Warnock fumes at referee Dean Whitestone after Dael Fry injury against Blackburn Rovers

The Boro centre-back was caught in the face by the raised boot of Rovers defender Jarrad Branthwaite in the first half, which left a nasty cut below Fry’s eye.

Warnock was furious that neither a penalty or red card was shown to the Blackburn man and let his feelings known to referee Dean Whitestone at the full-time whistle.

Rovers went on to win the match after Joe Rothwell opened the scoring with a low finish in the 64th minute, leaving Boro three points outside the play-off places.

When asked about the first-half incident, Warnock said: “It’s the game-changing incident, isn’t it? After that, I wasn’t even bothered about the result, after I saw the mess his face was in.

"That’s not why we’re in the game, that. I don’t think the lad meant to do it, but they’ve just read me the rules out – endangering the safety of a player. Well, it can’t be any worse than that.

"He’s a millimetre away from having his eyeball taken out. We miss out in all ends – we don’t get a penalty, we don’t get a sending off and we have one of our best players carried off. It’s an absolute bloody joke and I’m absolutely distraught.

Asked about Fry’s condition, Warnock added: “They’ve got to clear the blood and everything away, but the doctor has just said he’s a millimetre from his eyeball being taken out.

"How can you not see it? I’ve looked at the pictures and the referee has nobody in his line – so what’s the reason why he’s not seen it? I don’t understand it. For me, that’s elementary. We deserve better. The linesman should see it as well.

“I asked why they didn’t see it. I don’t know what he said, if I’m honest. What do they say? They go in there for an hour and come out with a different story.”

“I don’t think I’ve been as low as this since Chelsea scored with about three minutes to go at Cardiff. And we didn’t have VAR then either. You just expect people to do their job, and they’re not doing their job."

Despite the result, Warnock praised the effort levels shown by his players after the frustrating afternoon.

“I just said to them thanks for the effort, you couldn't have put anymore in,” added Warnock. “We could have scored goals but I can't blame them for what happened on the pitch.

“We're supposed to have officials that are good enough. Everyone in the stadium saw it, it was so obvious.

“I'd rather be in Tony's (Mowbray) boat, he was complaining about a throw-in, I said I'd rather have that go against me than a sending off and a penalty.

“He'll be over the moon about that, to come away with three points and 11 men. He's won the pools, he should do the lottery tonight.”

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