SHAKERS new boy Jamie Stuart has labelled his sending off against table toppers Brentford a "disgrace", writes Steve Canavan, of the Bolton Evening News.

Stuart was shown the red-card by controversial referee Paul Rejer during Tuesday's 5-1 defeat for fouling a Bees player and then picking his opponent up.

It was one of a number of misdemeanours which resulted in Bury getting fined £5,000 by the Football Association - money they can ill afford to part with given their current financial plight.

But the defender - who was making only his second league start for the Shakers since joining from Millwall - believes the official made a big mistake.

"I didn't touch him, I don't care what anyone says," fumed the 25-year-old, who also gave away a penalty. "I bent down to pull him up and the ref's given me two yellow cards for that offence and I think it's a disgrace, but there you go!"

"As for the first penalty, again I did not touch him. Full respect to their manager Steve Coppell, because he came in and told us that he did not agree with it.

"It's very frustrating but that's the way it goes. The gaffer spoke to their manager and he said that they were flattered by the result, and they could not believe it themselves.

"I think the ref helped them win the game, though we were not up to scratch anyway. We should have done a lot better. I thought our hearts were not in the right place and we should have wanted it a lot more than we did. But the ref didn't help us."

Former England under 21 international Stuart added that he signed for Bury because of Andy Preece. "The manager was what persuaded me to come to Bury. He's looked after me and he has made me feel really welcome and I'm really hungry to be here playing," explained Stuart.