Cooper blasts referee

Swindon boss Mark Cooper accused referee Graham Salisbury of causing "havoc" in his side's goalless stalemate at Crewe.

The Robins were left hanging on after Stephens had been dismissed three minutes from time when he picked up his second yellow card for kicking the ball away. But Crewe also finished with 10 men as veteran defender Tate later earned a second yellow during eight minutes of stoppage time for his foul on Yasir Kasim. Swindon carved out chances to win, but poor finishing and gritty defending from the home side ensured a point apiece as they dropped down to fourth, nine points adrift of leaders Bristol City. "The referee has caused complete havoc," said Cooper. "He is usually a good referee, but he was below par. "But Jack has to learn and he knows that if you are on a yellow card you can't do what he did. "I thought we deserved to win on the balance of the play. Crewe threw everything in the way. "They're fighting for their lives, but we got it wide and got the ball into the box and we were just waiting for something to drop. "It was important that we didn't lose and we made sure we got something to show for our effort." Andy Williams forced a first-half save out of Crewe goalkeeper Paul Rachubka, while opposite number Wes Foderingham kept out a fierce shot from Greg Leigh. When Rachubka could only parry Ben Gladwin's strike, Michael Smith prodded home from close range, only for the flag to be raised for offside. George Ray came to Crewe's rescue after Nathan Byrne had cut the ball back and Williams' goal-bound strike was blocked by the defender. But after the restart Crewe looked lively when Leigh and Nicky Ajose had chances, with the latter guilty of blazing over from a shooting position. Swindon suffered a blow when Louis Thompson was stretchered off with a shoulder injury. Massimo Luongo blasted over after a mazy run and then had a powerful shot pushed out brilliantly by Rachubka. But the number of yellow cards issued by Salisbury grew and Stephens was followed down the tunnel by Tate, who picked up his second yellow for a foul. Crewe boss Steve Davis agreed with Cooper about the standard of refereeing. "It's unfortunate as it's always about the referee. Sometimes they want to come here and be the centre of attention," said Davis. "But the fans haven't come here to see players get sent off. "The game didn't warrant the amount of bookings he gave. It wasn't a dirty game, but there were plenty of yellow cards and two reds. "We worked very hard and we could even have won the game. I couldn't ask for any more from the players in the way they want about their job."