ROVERS boss Paul Ince slammed referee Mike Jones as “naïve” after insisting Benni McCarthy’s controversial red card cost his side two points.

A relieved Ince hailed his battlers as awesome after Keith Andrews’ last-gasp equaliser at West Brom but insists McCarthy’s dismissal for a soft handball changed the game.

Mr Jones was at the centre of a number of dubious decisions, including Rovers’ first half penalty, and Ince has accused the inexperienced official of ruining the Premier League clash.

Ince said: “The first booking was the first challenge he had made and wasn’t a booking anyway. It wasn’t even a striker’s tackle. It was a foul and no more than that.

“So to give him a yellow card for that and the second one was unbelievable. It was unbelievable. It wasn’t as though Benni was using his arms to stop the opposition, it was a case of he got a little shove and it hit the top of his shoulder.

“You have to show a bit more common sense than that. It is a ridiculous decision and it ruined the game for me.

“Even though it was end-to-end it ruined the game because it is two points dropped because of a ref’s decision.”

Only his third game in charge of a top-flight game, Mr Jones made himself the centre of attention with a string of bizarre decisions.

His early penalty award for a tug on Jason Roberts, from which McCarthy opened the scoring, was harsh with Ince accusing the official of attempting to level things up for the remainder of the half.

He said: “The penalty we got could have gone either way. There was a pull but that happens all the time in football and fortunately for us we got that. But it was a penalty, there is no getting away from that.

“Then to send Benni McCarthy off? He could not wait to pull the card out. It is his first season in the Premiership and you could see at times he was naïve in what he was doing.

“His card was already out, he didn’t think, he didn’t try to re-recall the situation in his head and he got sucked into it. It was a poor, poor decision and at the end of the day if I make mistakes people tell me.

“So he is entitled to be told if he makes a mistake and that cost me two points.

“You have to be big and brave in the Premier League and he wasn’t that today. As I say, he is a young referee making his way and he will make mistakes but he has to learn from that and come back stronger."

After Roman Bednar and Ishmael Miller had made 10-man Rovers pay for Jones’ blunder, Rovers again showed their battling spirit with another last-ditch goal.

Following on from late goals at Goodison Park, Villa Park and at home to Middlesbrough, Andrews’ 89th minute 25-yard strike earned Rovers a crucial point.

Ince said: “I am proud of them. They were absolutely awesome and it was easy when the second goal went in to fold and capitulate but don’t talk to me about spirit.

“In the last 20 minutes we could have actually won the game.

"We showed an urgency, West Brom subconsciously looked willing to protect the game and we sensed that and went for them.

“We deserved that, it would have been cruel, especially after Villa where we deserved three points.

"Things seem to conspire against us all the time but we keep the spirit going and keep fighting.”