LEE Sinnott pointed an accusing finger at defensive shortcomings in Saturday's home defeat to promotion-chasing Barnet.

Alty could have few complaints about Tom Marshall being shown a straight red card for conceding a fourth-minute penalty that Barnet converted.

However, the Robins believed crucial refereeing decisions went against them.

They were particularly dismayed by referee Martin Coy’s failure to give Bondz N’Gala a second yellow card for a challenge on Simon Richman just before half-time.

Coy awarded a penalty, which was blazed over by Nicky Clee, but Altrincham believe Barnet should have been reduced to 10 men.

Sinnott was more concerned, however, with the way striker John Akinde was given a free run on goal for Barnet’s penalty.

He said: "There is a certain amount of annoyance about the penalty, but it’s more at my players, because they were briefed before they went out about just such a situation.

"If you get too tight and get turned by an alehouse ball that is just a lump up the pitch, then you have problems, because Akinde is a big, strong man with pace and mobility. We allowed that to happen, and it annoyed me.

"It would be good to see it again, but looking at it in real time, I thought Tom deserved to walk. I feared the worst straightaway, and certainly we would have been screaming for a pen at the other end.

"That had a massive bearing on the game. In fact, it had the bearing, because playing with 10 men for virtually 90 minutes is too much.

"We didn’t help ourselves with the goals conceded. They were all poor from our point of view, but I couldn’t fault the players’ commitment.

"They gave it a real go and kept trying to knock the door down. We could even have stolen something right at the end, when Damian Reeves went close twice in quick succession, so credit to them for that."

Alty’s trip to Welling United on Sunday is live on BT Sport and marks a milestone for keeper Stuart Coburn, who will set a new club record for appearances, overtaking John Davison.