By Hywell Fuller
WAYNE Rooney raged at what he insisted was a refereeing mistake after his Derby County side fell to defeat against Cardiff City.
In a spiky post-match press conference Rooney alleged that recent decisions by officials against his team are part of a campaign to relegate as he extraordinarily claimed, “they don’t like that we are close to safety”.
After seeing his lose 1-0 to a late Bluebirds goal, the former England striker vented his anger towards referee Andy Davies and his assistants for not spotting a ‘foul’ on winger Festy Ebosele in the build-up to Uche Ikpeazu’s winner.
“It was 100% a foul, how can the referee and the lineman not see it from six yards away, but I can see it in my area,” Rooney stormed. He later admitted his team has to defend situations like the one which led to the goal a lot better.
When asked about the goal, Cardiff manager Steve Morrison disagreed with the Derby manager, claiming: “I’ve just watched it back and I can tell you now there was no contact with the player.”
Morrison was also very realistic about his side’s performance against Derby. He said: “We did not deserve all three points today. I thought we were very poor.”
Meanwhile Morison confirmed his contract with Cardiff has been extended to the summer of 2023.