Middlesbrough 0 Blackburn Rovers 1 - Dael Fry was a “millimetre away from having his eyeball taken out” claims Neil Warnock

Joe Rothwell scored the only goal of the game as Boro lost at the Riverside for the second time in eight days, but the key moment of the afternoon came in the 14th minute as Fry was kicked in the head by Blackburn defender Jarrad Branthwaite as he went up to try to win a header.

Fry was unable to continue because of a deep gash under his eye, but referee Dean Whitestone failed to award either a penalty or issue Branthwaite with a red card.

Warnock said: “It’s the game-changing incident, isn’t it? After that, I wasn’t even bothered about the result, after I saw the mess his face is in.

“That’s not why we’re in the game, that. I don’t think the lad meant to do it, but they’ve just read me the rules out – endangering the safety of a player. Well, it can’t be any worse than that.

“He’s a millimetre away from having his eyeball taken out. We miss out in all ends – we don’t get a penalty, we don’t get a sending off and we have one of our best players carried off. It’s an absolute bloody joke and I’m absolutely distraught.

“They’ve got to clear the blood and everything away, but the doctor has just said he’s a millimetre from his eyeball being taken out.

“How can you not see it? I’ve looked at the pictures and the referee has nobody in his line –so what’s the reason why he’s not seen it? I don’t understand it. For me, that’s elementary. We deserve better. The linesman should see it as well. You just expect people to do their job, and they’re not doing their job. It’s so disappointing for me, when I look at the efforts the players have put in. I don’t think we’ve lost the game today, I just think the officials have been not good enough. I think we would have won the game if the officials had done their job.”

Warnock confronted Branthwaite on the pitch after the final whistle, an action that infuriated Rovers boss Tony Mowbray. He said: “I am not sure he should be facing an 18-year-old boy up who is just starting his career.”

Middlesbrough: Bettinelli, Spence, Fry (Wood-Gordon 18), McNair, Bola, Morsy (Johnson 72), Howson, Saville, Tavernier (Roberts 81), Assombalonga, Watmore (Ashley Fletcher 73). Unused substitutes: Wing, Akpom, Archer, Coulson, Hackney.

Blackburn Rovers: Kaminski, Nyambe, Lenihan, Branthwaite, Douglas, Travis, Davenport (Trybull 86), Johnson (Buckley 10), Elliott (Brereton 65), Armstrong, Rothwell (Gallagher 65), Buckley (Dack 65). 
Unused substitutes: Downing, Pears, Bell, Dolan.

Referee: D Whitestone (Northamptonshire).

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