Joey Barton slams ‘lack of control’ as Everton winger sent off for violent conduct

On-loan Everton youngster Stanley Mills received a maiden red card of his senior career at the weekend.

The highly-rated 19-year-old has made a bright start during his spell at Oxford United, scoring one goal and registering two assists so far. Dean Holden's side earned a 2-1 victory over Bristol Rovers last Saturday, although Mills received his marching orders in the dying embers of the heated Kassim Stadium encounter.

The winger was dismissed for violent conduct following a collision with Rovers' Sam Finley in the 96th minute - only moments after team-mate Oisin Smyth had been given a second yellow card. Mills was left nonplussed when he was branded a red, while Holden also felt it was a soft decision.

The Oxford boss said via the Oxford Mail: “I need to see it back before I potentially get myself in trouble. don’t want to talk about the referee to be honest, it’s not worth putting the energy into it.

“We made it hard for ourselves at the end with the discipline that we showed. We need to be more disciplined with the ball and not be giving opportunities to make mad decisions. Oisin has apologised and I need to look back at Stan’s, but from where I was stood, it looked extremely soft.”

Rovers head coach Joey Barton was equally as frustrated by the referee's display, with Jevani Brown being dismissed in the 63rd minute. Barton said: "I don’t really want to come here speaking about refereeing calls and decisions because I feel severely aggrieved by his performance today.

“You know what it’s like, we’ll get fined if we tell the truth, but clearly anybody who observed that or watched that will see a lack of control from the officiating team for most of the game.”