MARK Cooper slammed the assistant referee who signalled for the foul against Jordan Turnbull that saw the young defender pick up his tenth booking of the season and consequent suspension.

In the seventh minute Turnbull chased back with Peterborough’s Luke James and won the ball with a sliding tackle that has become somewhat of a trademark for the Southampton loanee.

The linesman signalled for a foul and, after a discussion with referee Andy Davies, the 19 year old was booked, his tenth caution of the season. He now misses tomorrow’s trip to Rochdale and next Saturday’s visit of Yeovil.

Turnbull has been an ever-present for Mark Cooper this season, playing every minute, but now he will lose that record. Compounding Turnbull’s woes is the fact that his card came one day before the amnesty that would have seen his suspension jeopardy end.

Cooper was livid with the linesman’s decision to hand Turnbull a yellow card and called into question his ability to officiate at League One level.

“It’s heartbreaking for Jordan. He had his heart set on playing every game in his first season. He’s had that taken away from him by somebody that’s not ready to wave that flag yet,” said Cooper.

“I don’t know how the linesman has come to that conclusion. He’s obviously not ready for the step up to this level of football because it’s right in front of him and he can see the ball has gone in a completely different direction from where it was going. Jordan’s not touched the man.

“They know they’ve made a mistake, but there’s nothing we can do about it, we can’t appeal.

“If the referee looks at it and says I’ve made a complete cock-up, I’ll hold my hands up and I’m sorry, then we have a chance, but that’s never going to happen.

“Jordan was stewing at half-time. He completed the game well and got through it. He was angry because he had his heart set on playing every minute of every game. That’s been taken away from him by an external source, it’s ridiculous.”