OLDHAM Athletic boss Frankie Bunn vowed to no longer comment on refereeing decisions after his side was dumped out of the Checkatrade Trophy at Rochdale on Tuesday night.

The Latics went down to 10 men not long after the restart when referee Oliver Langford showed midfielder Mohammed Maouche a red card following a challenge on Dale’s Matthew Gillam.

Penalties later loomed large at the Crown Oil Arena, but Langford pointed to the spot after Oldham skipper Peter Clarke was judged to have handled MJ Williams’ shot at close range.

Joe Rafferty netted the resulting penalty and Daniel Adshead added a second soon after – but Bunn declared he would now let other people speak for him when it comes to refereeing decisions following two big talking points.

“It was a tough game anyway, but I can’t keep going on about referees so I’m going to have to draw a line under that one,” he said. “I just let other people speak for me, but that’s a disappointing result to take.

“I thought we were going to regroup at half-time but the sending-off has obviously changed the game and that’s another questionable decision.

“My first thought was I thought he won the ball, but it’s something we’ll have to look at.

“And again, I’ve got to let other people talk for me because I can’t keep on discussing referees. I think we’ve had enough of that so far.”

Despite the disadvantage of having to play almost three quarters of an hour a player down, Latics stood firm.

And though Rochdale had much of the possession, Daniel Iversen was rarely called into action to keep the score level.

But that changed in stoppage time when Langford adjudged Clarke had handled the ball, and though Bunn believed his skipper was at close quarters to the shot, he put his disappointment aside, preferring to look forward to this Saturday’s clash against Bury.

Bunn said: “I thought it was a bit close. I think he’s right on top of him when he’s struck it. I can’t keep commenting on referees, I’ve had enough of that now and it’s become a sore point for me.

“It is what it is. We’ve got to roll our sleeves up and we’ve got a great game coming up on Saturday.

“We’ve got to make sure everyone’s in good form and make sure we recover well over the next couple of days.”