Frustrated Phil Parkinson took a swipe at the standard of League Two refereeing after City’s five-match unbeaten run was sunk by Rotherham.

Parkinson was fuming over the “farcical” penalty which led to the home side’s second goal in their 3-0 win at the Don Valley.

City are already appealing against Dean Mohareb’s decision to send off David Syers against Shrewsbury and the Bantams boss was equally unhappy with the performance of official Robert Madley yesterday.

Parkinson said: “It does worry me about referees. I didn’t have my say on Saturday but I looked at that ref and thought ‘you’re not fit enough’.

“And I looked at the three against Rotherham and thought ‘not good enough’. You get in trouble for saying it but they aren’t good enough in my opinion.

“I told the ref at half-time that he was getting influenced by the crowd. I wouldn’t like to see him refereeing in front of 50,000.

“Every time the crowd appealed, he gave them the decision, and it cost us.”

Jon McLaughlin was at fault for the opener, although City claimed the ball was kicked out of his hands by scorer Lewis Grabban.

The keeper then gave away a penalty for the second but furiously claimed that he had played the ball on to Sam Wood and not caught him.

Parkinson said: “Jon slid out, played it on the lad and it went for a goal-kick. To call it a penalty was farcical.

“Nobody from Rotherham appealed. Surely that’s a clue for any official.

“Did the bench or the crowd appeal? No. The linesman was right there and never moved.

“It clearly wasn’t a penalty and it cost us. At 2-0 down, having put a lot of effort into Saturday as well, it was always going to be difficult to come back.

“It leaves a nasty taste in our mouth to lose, especially when we feel the officials have played a big part in it.”

McLaughlin was also caught out by the third goal – a speculative effort from sub Brett Williams to complete a tough day.

But Parkinson insisted he will still be in goal in the FA Cup at Watford.

“The wind caught the shot but Jon should have done better. But he’s been fantastic for us.

“That’s part of his learning curve as a young goalkeeper and he’ll come back stronger than ever on Saturday.”

Meanwhile, Simon Ramsden faces at least a month out with the broken big toe he suffered at the weekend.