Reading boss Paul Ince fumed at referee Jeremy Simpson after the Royals were denied a penalty in stoppage time, before going on to concede and lost 2-1 at Burnley.

Tom Ince opened the scoring after half-time but the Clarets pegged them back through Manuel Benson.

Goal scorer Ince was dribbling into the box deep into seven minutes stoppage time and was tripped by Ian Maatsen, only for the referee to wave appeals away.

Speaking on the call after the game, Ince did not hold back.

"I am going to have to say it," he started. "The referee is an absolute joke. That’s why we’ve come away with nothing. I don’t like having a go at referees because I know it’s a tough job. As much as I have to stand in front of you and be accountable, they should be the same.

"On Thomas, it’s a blatant penalty. I can understand the one before that where he’s handballed it, there’s a lot of people there so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. But when it’s the 92nd minute and Maatsen fouls him, and the assistant referee is 15 yards and has a great view, and they haven’t got the balls to give the decision for us to go and win the game if we score the penalty. They go up one minute later and get the winner. That’s what makes me angry.

"They’ll probably go back and say they’ll look at it and get back to you, that’s no bloody good to me as I’ve got to go five hours down the motorway feeling like I’ve been robbed by the officials. If that was the other end, he probably couldn’t wait to give it. The referees don’t get to watch it five times on a laptop, but the fact is when the assistant is there and can see it perfectly and hasn’t got the balls to make the right decision, that makes me angry.

"I’m angry for the players because it was a great performance, and they deserved a lot more. You’ll probably get a ‘we got it wrong, it’s a penalty’- that’s no bloody good to me, my players, my fans and my club. I feel like I’ve been conned by the referees today but I’m proud of my boys and the way we played. They’re top of the table, and we’ve made them look ordinary. We were getting cramp and that just shows what we put in and to walk away with nothing is disappointing because the referee was poor."

In other news from the post-match press conference, the former England captain discussed injuries and celebrations.

Reading Chronicle:

Ince on Burnley celebrations

"The players are angry. As a player, and I had 700-800 games, if you perform well you can deal with that, you can’t live with officials not having the balls to give decisions. That’s the sad thing. We go again. Mamadou is out now because he got booked, which doesn’t help our cause, but we have to gain confidence from the fact we came here and should’ve got something. They’re in the changing room like they’ve won the FA Cup. I said to the players to remember that because it’s the feeling we’re going to get.

Ince on McIntyre substitution

"He's fine. He had a migraine, so he’ll hopefully be ok. It was a loss to lose him because we were comfortable at the back and he’s a wonderful player. Hopefully he’ll be ok for Tuesday.

Reading Chronicle:

Ince on moving on

"I won’t today. That will be on my mind all night and the players because it’s unjust and unfair. Tonight, I won’t get it out of my head, but tomorrow morning when I go to work, it’ll be gone, and we go again on Tuesday.

Ince on Ovie Ejaria

"It was very good. He lasted 70 minutes and everyone has to play a part now. I feel deflated for the players, and you don’t get over those decisions. We are getting players back and you know the spirit of these boys, they’ll go again.