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Gregory critical of Rams' two red cards

Gordon Tynan
Monday 14 October 2002 00:00 BST
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The referee Neale Barry felt the full force of John Gregory's anger at Valley Parade on Saturday, with the Derby County manager accusing him of lacking "any common sense".

The Rams had finished their goalless draw against Bradford with just nine men. Their captain, Rob Lee, was dismissed in the 72nd minute for two bookable offences – both fouls on Stephen Warnock – while Adam Murray was sent off in added time.

The 21-year-old left the pitch in floods of tears, but Gregory refused to condemn the midfielder, instead turning his frustration on Barry. "There was a lot of good-natured banter going on between both benches and with [fourth official] Jeff Winter," he said. "It's just a shame the referee didn't take the same kind of approach on the pitch."

The Bradford manager, Nicky Law, said: "In a way the sending-off [of Lee] didn't help us because Derby put more men behind the ball after that."

The First Division's form team Burnley beat Walsall 2-1 to stretch their undefeated league run to eight games. The Clarets looked to be coasting after goals from Robbie Blake and Steve Davis but a Gary Birch strike gave Walsall late hope and the substitute should have equalised in injury-time, heading over from three yards.

Burnley manager Stan Ternent said: "It was another good day's work considering we had a few players missing and several others carrying injuries." Walsall's Colin Lee was philosophical, saying: "We lost in the right way but it was disappointing not to get a point – I thought we deserved one."

Thomas Myhre has given Sunderland's new manager, Howard Wilkinson, a goalkeeping dilemma after picking up a hip injury playing for Norway in their 1-0 Euro 2004 qualifying win over Romania. The former Everton keeper is out of the match with Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday. and it could also be bad news for Wilkinson and his assistant Steve Cotterill.

Myhre only recently displaced Sunderland's first-choice goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen, who is out until January with a dislocated elbow, and it means Jurgen Macho is on stand-by to play in Wilkinson's first match in charge against West Ham on Saturday, even though he is on the transfer list.

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