FOREST GREEN head coach Mark Cooper bemoaned the choice of referee as his side were dethroned from the top of League Two.

Cooper felt referee Sam Purkiss was the wrong choice for the game, which Rovers lost to a first-half Antoni Sarcevic strike, sending his side to only their second home defeat of the season.

He said: "We  found out on Tuesday who the referee was and because it’s such a big game - I had real concerns as it’s his first year in the league and he has a record for booking lots of players and I had a concern not for us, but for the game.

“I didn’t feel we deserved to lose and we had a lot of territory but didn’t have the quality in the final third and we thought we should have had a few penalties and the one at the end is a stonewall, a punch in the back of the head.”

Meanwhile, Plymouth boss Ryan Lowe challenged matchwinner Antoni Sarcevic to hit double figures.

Grabbing his fifth goal of the season, midfield kingpin Sarcevic pounced in the first-half to send Rovers tumbling as the in-form Pilgrims made it back-to-back 1-0 wins.

Lowe said: “He (Sarcevic) will get 10 and probably more. I said to him before the game if he shoots, he scores. He gives us desire and commitment and a desire to put bodies on the line - he’s a talent and a pleasure to work with.”

Lowe felt the flow of the game was hindered from start-to-finish in a match that had been billed as one for the purists.

He said: “I don’t want to get into trouble by saying what I want to say because the fluidity of the game was irrelevant, and I think Mark (Cooper) was disappointed that they couldn’t play a lot of football.

“Me and Mark were on the side and were asking for the game to just flow because it was two good teams, who want to play the right way, but it wasn’t to be, but I was just pleased with the three points.

“Coops has done a fantastic job there. He has just missed out the last couple of years.

“He’s a terrific bloke – one of the good guys. He plays the right way; hence he has been up there the last few seasons.”

Watch Mark Cooper's full-match press conference