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Oxford boss Liam Manning criticised referee Seb Stockbridge following his side’s 1-0 defeat against Wanderers.
Dion Charles scored the decisive goal, slotting home after Conor Braldey’s cut-back was parried by Simon Eastwood.
One of the major talking points came on the stroke of half time when James Trafford escaped a red card after bringing down Kyle Joseph on the edge of the box.
“I have to be careful what I say. The performance from the referee was atrocious,” Manning told Oxford Mail.
“He just got too many wrong today and when you look at it, clubs will suffer and jobs will suffer. There’s so much on the line – you can’t referee a game like that, it’s terrible.”
He added: “I thought he had a huge level of arrogance about him. I thought he was terrible in terms of how we conducted himself.
“As bad as the (Trafford) decision was, it woke us up. That first 25 to 30 minutes, you can’t start games like that. We have to take the game to the opposition, especially here.”
The result sees Wanderers return to fifth in the League One table after Derby, Peterborough and Wycombe all dropped points.
Meanwhile, are only above the relegation zone on goal difference after Cambridge’s win against Posh at the Abbey Stadium.
Manning wasn’t pleased with his side’s display in the first half and says they need to “step up and be counted” as they battle to beat the drop.
“I wasn’t happy at half-time at all,” the manager explained. “I said to the players we can keep talking about it, and keep shouting, ranting and raving but ultimately when the game starts, people have got to step up and be counted.
“We’re in a scrap, we’re in a fight – who’s going to come to the party? We didn’t do that well in the first half.”
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