NEIL Lennon blasted “appalling” referee Mark Haywood for his performance in the 1-1 draw against Reading at the Macron Stadium.

The Wanderers boss was fuming after the final whistle, insisting the West Yorkshire official had not given his side enough protection.

Lennon lost three players inside the opening 45 minutes and revealed after the game that the trio could all be in the treatment room long-term.

Top scorer Zach Clough is out with a dislocated shoulder, centre-back David Wheater limped off with a hamstring injury while Kevin McNaughton was stretchered off after getting kicked in his shin.

Lennon’s mood was not helped by the fact Jamie Mackie equalised in the second minute of stoppage time, cancelling out Eidur Gudjohnsen’s earlier effort.

But the Northern Irishman was less than impressed with the refereeing performance from Heywood.

“I can’t speak highly enough about my players but I’ll have to be careful what I say about the referee, who was crap, to say the least. He was absolutely appalling,” he said after the game.

“There was no protection of my players tonight and some of it turned into a wrestling match.

“He was so inconsistent. I thought refs sided with the home teams in the Championship from what I’ve come across but that wasn’t the case tonight.

“Kevin McNaughton gets booted in front of the linesman, who doesn’t see it, how I don’t know. He’s gone off with a leg injury.

“Zach has gone off with a dislocated shoulder because he got booted from behind and the ref played on.”

Haywood swopped his original black shirt for a green one during the interval with Lennon suggesting: “We should have changed the referee.

“Someone from the crowd would have done a better job. They would have been able to keep up with the game better too.”

Lennon admitted his side should have seen out the win regardless of his appraisal of the referee.

“People might think it sounds like sour grapes but the refereeing was nothing short of appalling,” he added.

“We have to learn to see the game through. It isn’t a massive problem but we should have been a lot more comfortable.

“It’s the third time it’s happened in the last three or four games – Watford and Wolves – we have to see it out.

“We were brilliant for the rest of the game barring the goal – there was a massive deflection on the pass and he shanked the shot. It was maybe a bit of a fluke.

“That was just our bad luck tonight.”