Neil Critchley frustrated with referee's display during Blackpool's frustrating defeat to Tranmere Rovers

The man in the middle Seb Stockbridge made a number of baffling calls before allowing Tranmere's late time-wasting to go unpunished.

Goalkeeper Scott Davies was seemingly allowed to take as long as he wanted over his goal kicks in the dying stages as the away side clung onto their slender lead.

While Critchley was at pains to insist the referee wasn't at fault for Blackpool's defeat, he did say he was left frustrated by some of his decisions.

“I think first half, they have a clear plan which is to get the ball forward and they like to buy a lot of free kicks and fouls," Critchley told The Gazette.

“I thought some of their players went down quite easily, that was their tactic, but unfortunately their players were cleverer than the referee.

“I said to the referee it’s funny how none of the defenders were falling down, it always seemed to be the strikers going over looking for a free kick and he kept falling for the trap.

“Some were free kicks, some weren’t in my opinion.

“I don’t blame Tranmere for what they were doing, wasting time in the second half and killing the game. That’s up to them.

“You just hope you have a strong referee that can deal with that.

“He’s not the reason we lost, but perhaps he could have handled one or two moments slightly better.”