Football: Tranmere complain

TRANMERE ROVERS have complained to the Football League about Allan Gunn's refereeing of their Coca-Cola Cup semi-final second leg against Aston Villa on Sunday. Tranmere lost in a penalty shoot-out at Villa Park, but they believe the home goalkeeper, Mark Bosnich, should not have been on the pitch to make the three saves that took Villa into the Wembley final.

In a strongly worded letter, Rovers' secretary, Norman Wilson, said: 'We refuse to mark the referee because of his inept performance, especially the penalty incident when Mark Bosnich brought down John Aldridge in a goal-scoring situation. The referee awarded a penalty but did not send off Bosnich when he should have been dismissed.'

Tranmere found the decision even more galling as they had their goalkeeper, Eric Nixon, sent off against Bristol City earlier in the season in similar circumstances.

Wolves have signed Guy Whittingham, the Aston Villa striker, on a month's loan to cover for the injured Steve Bull and Cyrille Regis. Whittingham, who scored 42 First Division goals for Portsmouth last season prior to a pounds 1.2m move to Villa, is ineligible for Wolves' FA Cup replay at Ipswich tomorrow even though he is not cup-tied.