Jonathan Woodgate and Jose Gomes quizzed on touchline incident after Middlesbrough's win over Reading

Boro claimed all three points at the Riverside courtesy of Marvin Johnson’s second-half free-kick, yet Royals boss Gomes thought the hosts should have been reduced to 10 men before half-time.

The moment in question came in the 33rd minute when the Reading bench were outraged that Boro midfielder Adam Clayton wasn’t shown a straight red card following a collision with Yakou Meite.

Several members in the away dugout lept to their feet before referee Robert Jones booked one of the Reading coaches for their complaints.

On first viewing, it didn’t look like Clayton had intended to injure the Reading forward and Woodgate defended his player’s challenge after the game.

When asked what happened on the touchline when the Reading coach was booked, Woodgate replied: “I'm not too sure, I was concentrating on the game.

“I just thought it was a fair challenge from Clayts to be honest with you, the ball was there to be won.

“Clats won the ball, I didn't see anything difficult about the decision, I thought it was a straightforward decision.”

Gomes, though, made his view quite clear when asked about the event in his post-match press conference.

“I don’t like to talk about referees but it’s not just a referee issue,” said the Reading boss.

“The referee is the only person on the pitch that can protect the football and protect the football means protect the players.

“I think it was minute 36 or something it should be a red card, no doubt about it. It wasn’t even given as a foul against Middlesbrough, it’s strange it happened.

“I don’t want to use this like an excuse for the result, we lost because in the right moments we created chances and didn’t score and in football this can happen.”

After the game neither the EFL’s highlights show on Quest or the extended highlights package on Boro’s official website showed the incident.