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"The first thing I said to the fourth official is that it was a blatant sending off. Nobody can argue with that. We didn't get it, I don't moan about it, but he (Neil Swarbrick) has made the wrong decision.
"What annoys you is the fact he said Joe was running away from goal. Well, I can put my glasses on and watch the game with them on, but he has clearly gone towards the goal, and he's going to score. So the referee hasn't got that one right. But it happens.
"The manner of the goals we conceded was disappointing, but the players rolled their sleeves up and put in an honest performance. The attitude is what I wanted, and if we can take that really honest performance with a bit of quality in spells into Saturday, it can only do us good.
"There's fire in everybody's belly, let's hope it comes out on Saturday. The fans were brilliant tonight. I thought there was about 10,000 with the noise they generated before the start. If we can get that and replicate it on a more regular basis, the passion from the terraces spreads to the pitch quickly.
"We know we're not the finished article, but we want to send people home knowing there's commitment, determination, honesty and quality in the group we've got. A lot of the football we've produced this season has been OK. What we've got to do is cut out the frailties in terms of the goals we concede and score more goals, and that is what we're working very hard to rectify.
"I don't want to name names and make excuses, but there is a heavy head cold running around our club, some of the backroom staff and office staff have picked it up and a couple of the players had it last night. But they wanted to play, and it is good that we have got that type of attitude in the club."