Furious Dick Campbell blasted referee Calum Scott for the double whammy penalty decision that denied Arbroath a point at Hamilton Accies - and cost Thomas O'Brien his wages next week.
Lichties skipper O'Brien saw red in the 56th minute for stopping Dario Zanatta's strike with his arm as it flew towards goal.
But Campbell insisted the penalty - which Steve Lawson converted - should never have been given and branded the decision the softest he's ever seen.
He blasted: "Hamilton deserved to win, albeit with the softest penalty kick I’ve seen in 33 years in the game.
"He falls down on the ball and he sends him off. I’ve never seen that rule.
“It was bad enough giving the penalty, never mind the red card.
“I think anyone who knows anything about football would agree with me.
“Tam O’Brien was suspended for the cup in midweek from last season, but now he’ll miss next Saturday as well.
“That player has no wages next week now, referees need to have a bit of humanity about them. He’s got to go home to a wife and bairns without any wages because of that decision.
“John Rankin’s team showed a good spirit, but we were very poor.
“We didn’t play with any fluency in terms of retention of the ball in the forward half of the park.
"We’ve had more plaudits than any other club in Scottish football, but you’ve got to stand up and be counted.
“We had a lot of fans down here and we let them down."
The result leaves Arbroath, who were leading the Championship for much of last season before Kilmarnock claimed the title, rock bottom with two points from five games.
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