Protect Pereira! Plea made after West Brom's Brazilian star floored

Albion’s Kyle Bartley has called on referees to provide greater protection for Matheus Pereira – with the Brazilian on the end of some rough challenges.

Charlton's Tom Lockyer and Albion's Grady Diangana face off after Matheus Pereira is floored by a challenge on Saturday (Credit: ©AMA/Adam Fradgley)

The Baggies played out a 2-2 draw with Charlton on Saturday in a match that saw referee Matt Donohue grab the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

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Donohue incorrectly sent of Grady Diangana for a foul that was actually committed by Nathan Ferguson.

But while he eventually atoned for that error, he made another huge mistake in stoppage time when he awarded Charlton a penalty for nothing other than a coming together between Semi Ajayi and Naby Sarr.

Those decisions again put the spotlight on the standard of refereeing in the Championship – with Bartley believing Pereira is a player who should receive greater protection from officials.

“He (Pereira) is fantastic,” the defender said.

Matheus Pereira in action against Charlton Athletic at The Hawthorns. (Credit: ©AMA/Adam Fradgley)

“Seeing Nathan get sent off, if you look at some of the treatment Matheus gets – the referees need to be looking at that and protecting him a little bit more.

“That’s something for them to work on and hopefully we’ll get that.

“Anyone who has watched him knows he’s a dangerous player. He’s got a lot of ability, he’s strong as an ox and a great lad. Hopefully he’ll get a bit more protection and that can make him improve even more.”

Bartley admitted Albion’s players were left hugely frustrated with Donohue’s decision to award Charlton a stoppage time penalty – with Josh Cullen going on to score from the spot to snatch a point for his side.

“By the end of the match we were deserved winners but we were very unfortunate to concede that penalty,” he continued.

Confusion on the pitch as referee Matthew Donohue shows a red card to Nathan Ferguson after showing it to Grady Diangana first by mistake. (Credit: ©AMA/Adam Fradgley)

“The ref made his decision and he has to stand by that. We don’t agree with it but these things happen in football.

“We knew in the group we’d done enough to win the game. Some things went against us, but we stick together and carry on.

“We wanted to get the three points, we deserved the points, but ultimately we didn’t get it.

“We have little bit of a break now, We’ll reset and go again next week.”