In a scathing post-match tirade, Hull City striker Oli McBurnie claimed referee John Brooks ‘doesn’t really understand football’.

Brooks, who played in the middle for Hull in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Sheffield United, became McBurnie and his teammates’ public enemy number one after a series of divisive decisions.

Marching Orders

Hull were reduced to ten men in the 75th minute when the referee sent off John Lundstram for a second bookable offence.

However, McBurnie believed it was the wrong decision and argued Brooks hampered Lundstram’s ability to get the ball, resulting in the midfielder fouling Blades star Jairo Riedewald.

Lundstram had previously been scheduled for a fiery encounter with Mark McGuiness, which McBurnie was unaware of.

However, McBurnie was particularly upset by the second yellow card, which ultimately turned the game on its head because Hull was leading 1-0.

McBurnie believes the referee ‘doesn’t really understand football’. “The second one, the referee’s clearly in Lunny’s way, he’s had to run around him and that’s why he’s off-balance as he’s making a tackle,” he told talkSPORT.Understandably, that is a foul.”However, I believe the referee has demonstrated that he lacks a thorough understanding of football. When playing football, it’s important to exercise common sense and avoid getting in the way.You give the foul but not the yellow card, because if you’re not in the way, Lunny may run in and take the ball with no foul at all.”

Brooks infuriated Hull’s players and staff when, less than ten minutes later, he awarded the Blades a penalty when Kyle Joseph was adjudged to have fouled Riedewald as players from both sides fought in the box.

Gus Hamer converted the subsequent penalty kick to tie the game in the 85th minute.

McBurnie said Brooks was unaware of the foul that resulted in the penalty, leading him to question the referee’s decision to point to the spot.McBurnie stated that they are still unsure of who committed the foul after seeing the replay.During the game, I asked the referee who committed the foul, but he stated he didn’t know and asked me to leave.”It’s unclear how to call a foul if you don’t know who it’s on.”I don’t know what else I can say about the referee.

McBurnie stated that he had seen similar grappling situations’maybe ten times a game’ but had never been granted a penalty in any of Hull’s matches this season.

Hull’s difficulties were compounded in the 88th minute, when Danny Ings scored his second goal of the season just minutes after coming in to seal the three points for the Blades.

How the 2-1 outcome affected Hull City and Sheffield United

Despite the painful defeat, Hull remain in the play-off places, sitting sixth with 68 points, four ahead of Wrexham.

However, if the Hollywood-owned Welsh side defeats Birmingham City on Sunday, they will be able to close the gap to one point.

Sheffield United’s victory moved them up to 16th place, although they might be overtaken by the Blues if they defeat Wrexham.