Neil Lennon drops a classic of the ‘I can’t criticise the ref but…’ genre

It must be hard for manager's to bite their tongue and the Bolton boss tried and failed last night

The Championship is tighter than a duck's proverbial this season, with just six points separating Ipswich in seventh to table toppers Middlesbrough. Closer to the bottom, Millwall, Wigan and Blackpool are in the drop zone and look to be in big trouble but above them eight teams are covered by just five points, so any upturn in form by Millwall could see any of them in the soup. Bolton's 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Reading didn't do either side any favours last night and the result enraged Neil Lennon, whose mood wasn't helped by the fact that the equalising Reading goal came in injury time. The Trotters boss felt referee Mark Haywood didn't do enough to protect his players, and three Bolton men had to be substituted due to injury before half time. The former Celtic gaffer wanted to put the boot in to the ref but he at first had some sense... "I can't speak highly enough of the players but I have to be careful what I say about the referee," Lennon said. Then he let rip... "He was absolutely appalling. There was no protection of our players tonight. Some of it turned into a wrestling match, he was so inconsistent. "Kevin McNaughton gets booted in front of the linesman who doesn't see it - how he can't see it I don't know," Lennon told BBC Radio Manchester. "Zach Clough has dislocated his shoulder because he got booted from behind and the referee has waved play on." In a separate interview post match, Lennon was at it again. "We should have changed the referee. Someone from the crowd would have done a better job. They would have been able to keep up with the game better too." We suspect the FA will be having a word with him...