SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown hit out at referee Andre Marriner following the Shrimpers’ 1-0 defeat at Millwall on Saturday.

Blues had midfielder Will Atkinson sent off for a late tackle on Lions skipper Tony Craig in the 34th minute of the match before Jermaine McGlashan was denied what looked a clear-cut penalty late on.

And Brown felt Marriner, who normally officiates in the Premier League, got both big decisions wrong.

“It was never a red card and we should definitely have had a penalty,” fumed the Shrimpers boss.

“Will is a genuine player but when Premier League refs come down to this level they don’t know the players.

“Their job is to know what’s out there, who the good boys are and who the bad boys are but Andre Marriner hasn’t got a clue who Will Atkinson is.

“He’s genuinely gone in for a challenge and I thought it was worthy of a yellow card.

“But the ref has said he’s gone over the top and gone to do the player but none of that is in Will’s character so he hasn’t done his job properly.

“Jermaine hasn’t dived either, it was a clear penalty and that could have got us something from the game.

“Maybe we could have won if it was 11 v 11 and it’s tough to take because he’s also denied us an opportunity to get an equaliser.”

Millwall took advantage of their extra man to secure all three points at the New Den with Fred Onyedinma heading home the only goal of the game just past the hour mark.

The defeat saw Blues slip out of the play-off positions and down to eighth in the League One table.

Southend will now be looking to bounce back at Oxford on Tuesday night.

But they will head to the Kassam Stadium without Atkinson, unless the first red card of the midfielder’s career is successfully overturned.

“We will be appealing the sending off,” confirmed Brown.

“The arrogance stands against us and there’s probably not a chance of him taking it on because he said it was a red straight away.

“There’s no malice in Will Atkinson at all, he was in tears at half-time apologising to people but we all told him to shut up.

“It’s not him who should be apologising to us, it’s Andre Marriner who should be coming in and saying sorry.”

However, Brown is now expecting a strong reaction from his side.

“The spirit we have here is first class,” he added.