Exeter manager Caldwell yells, “The ref has been conned,” following Charlton’s defeat following a shocking ace red card. The League One official also imposed a 10-game suspension on the referee.

Exeter City manager Gary Caldwell has slammed referee David Rock’s decision to send off Will Aimson in last night’s 4-1 defeat to Charlton Athletic.

The Grecians already trailed 2-1 when their skipper was shown a straight red card by the match official for a challenge which left Alfie May on the turf.

Caldwell indicated that City will appeal Aimson’s dismissal.

The Scot said: “If you get the ball, how is it a red card? It’s clear he wins the ball. Alfie May does what clever players do – he buys the foul and rolls around to buy the red card.

“That’s football – I’m not having a go at him – but the ref has been conned.”

Caldwell had said his side were “nowhere near good enough” in their 2-0 loss to Northampton Town at the weekend.

But Caldwell was far happier with the levels his team produced in SE7.

“I got a reaction from my players all night – I don’t think the players got any help in the game,” he said. “The gameplan was working to a tee in the first half and we had opportunities to go 2-0 up, that was frustrating.

“If the penalty for Charlton is a penalty then we have a penalty in the first half. They are identical actions – and we don’t get it. We are not getting any big moments and tonight we didn’t get anything from decisions – it went strongly against us when you need it to go in your favour for big games.”