“I’ll take my hat off to Martin because it was a difficult game out there in the second half – it became a bit of a battle,” said Brown.

“The first three free-kicks, Tim Cahill is not even looking at the ball. He has assaulted, for want of a better word, my two centre-halves.

“They are down there, both with bloodied noses and one of them has stitches over his eye.

“It was always going to be tough, though, because we were battling for everything.

“But you just need a bit of support from the officials and I am after the big decisions – not the minor ones.

“The major decisions are suddenly going against us and I have no idea why.

“We have asked the referee after the game to have a look at the first goal, and they are refusing.

“So we are waiting for the verdict on Match of the Day.

“It just kills us.

“The first goal was two yards offside, the linesman is looking right down the line. Why is he not flagging?

“We have been done in front of the Kop by Alan Wiley and now done here by the linesman.”