Boro striker feels Chesterfield put pressure on referee to send off team-mate

DARIUS Charles says he believes Chesterfield influenced the referee’s decision to send off Michael Bostwick on Saturday but says Boro will take many positives from their own performance.

Bostwick saw yellow cards for two late tackles - the second on 65 minutes - in a tempestuous match which also saw players from both sides involved in a fracas in the tunnel at the end of the game after the home side had scored a late equaliser.

“We’re a bit disappointed (with the sending off),” Charles told The Comet. “We feel (that) maybe their team influenced the referee into making a decision.

“But at the end of the day the ref’s made that decision and we went down to 10 men and we had to defend for our lives after that.

“(We were) very, very disappointed to concede a goal (in the 97th minute). It’s really disappointing from our point of view but we take some positives from the game.

“I think it shows how much the squad’s improved from last year but we’re very disappointed we didn’t come away with all three points. We showed a great work ethic and team spirit. We’ll drop points here and there but if we keep up that same mentality, work rate and focus then we won’t go far wrong.”