Reading boss Noel Hunt was left baffled by the officials at the LNER Stadium as Lincoln City beat Reading 2-0.
Deservedly winning, the Imps netted in both halves and twice hit the woodwork.
However, the Royals spent almost an hour with 10 men after Louie Holzman's red card and Sam Smith was denied a 'stonewall' penalty.
Speaking after his second successive defeat in charge, Hunt said: "
It was [a tough day]. I don’t think we started particularly well in terms of getting to the pace of the game quickly enough. We found ourselves a goal down but off the back of that we grew into it a little bit and started to get a foothold in the game. We were in their final third a bit more but big decision, like the handball when Sam was turning it around the corner, stops him going through on goal.
"The penalty shout, I cannot fathom how he hasn’t given the penalty. That’s the second one in the last two weeks. Those things aren’t going for us at the minute, but I said to the boys that you have to stick with it and keep working hard. The sending off changes everything for us. He does catch him and it’s a sending off so it’s tough to be away from home with 10 men. I can’t praise the players enough for the second half performance in terms of their effort and work rate.
"The second goal, we went through the process during the week of their late runs through the full-back and centre-half and he just hasn’t picked it up or seen it, so it was one of those days."
Spending plenty of time discussing levels of officiating, Hunt added: "It's not as if they’re hard decision, they’re clearcut. I don’t understand how they can get them wrong, everyone else sees it. Their manager said it was a stonewaller, same as last week. I’m sick of us seeing it, I want the officials to be good enough to see it. It is a really important part of the game because it’s a turning point in the game."
On Boxing Day, Reading host Northampton Town as Hunt will look to earn a first win in charge on his 42nd birthday.
"We were getting a foothold but when we go through on goal it gives us confidence. On another day you get the penalty and it kickstarts us, but we need that rub of the green. We need to keep working on what we’re doing and not coming away from it. That’s where we got success so we need to brush up on a few things."
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