Stoke boss Tony Pulis believes experienced referees should take charge of key Coca-Cola Championship fixtures.

Pulis was left more than a little bemused by some of the decisions made by Northumberland official Mike Oliver during his side's shock 2-0 defeat at struggling Preston last night.

Last month, at the age of 22, Oliver became the youngest referee to operate in the league when he took charge of Burnley's 2-0 win over Scunthorpe.

While Pulis stopped some way short of suggesting Oliver shaped the outcome of the game at Deepdale - which lifted Preston out of the bottom three and left Stoke only one point clear at the top - the Potters boss was less than thrilled about his performance.

"The referee was a very young referee and I'm not blaming him for the result," said Pulis, whose side next face QPR in a televised clash on Sunday.

"But I thought he gave some poor decisions and certainly reacted when the crowd reacted.

"I suppose that's experience. But I don't think he should be given the opportunity to gain experience from a team that's at the top of the table and a team that's at the bottom of the table fighting for their lives.

"Like I said, I'm not blaming the referee - there's no-one else to blame apart from us for not being ruthless really in both boxes."

The man who was ruthless at Deepdale was Preston's Richard Chaplow.

His first-half brace - his first goals in 16 months - ultimately proved crucial, much to the delight of boss Alan Irvine.

"Chappy did really well," said the Preston boss.

"I spoke to him beforehand and told him his assets were running and energy. When he does what he did here, it's difficult for people to stick with him."

Burnley maintained their play-off push with a 2-0 victory over Coventry at Turf Moor.

Chris McCann got the first from close range after 20 minutes, with Steven Caldwell nodding in the second five minutes from time.

Clarets manager Owen Coyle said: "That puts us on 50 points and although there are some big clubs in the Championship we really believe that if we play to our maximum then we can win games."

QPR and Barnsley stay locked together on 41 points after a goalless draw at Oakwell, and Tykes boss Simon Davey blamed tricky conditions for the stalemate.

He said: "I think people have got to appreciate that conditions were poor. The wind was swerving round and lots of passes went astray.

"We've got a point but possibly with the chances we had we were disappointed that we didn't take all three."

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