Nottingham Forest boss Colin Calderwood hit out at the sending-off of midfielder Sammy Clingan after Friday's 2-0 win at Brighton.Calderwood was left unhappy with the decision of referee Keith Hill to give Clingan a straight red card for a late tackle on Jake Robinson seven minutes into the second half at the Withdean Stadium.

He said: "The decision was pretty harsh to be honest. It was a careless tackle and reckless, but it warranted a booking and that's all.

"It was slightly late and a couple of the Brighton players thought it was only a yellow card offence. A three-match ban would be absolutely ridiculous."

Calderwood was delighted with the response shown by his men following their midweek defeat at Walsall but also paid credit to the opposition.

"We were magnificent with 10 men, very solid, and credit to everyone for the level of the performance. In my view Brighton can be a top-six side, and we saw that in the first half, but our effort was magnificent throughout and it feels like a big one for us," he said.

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