Roberto De Zerbi said he has “big confidence” in referees after his side suffered another red card.

But opposite number Steve Cooper was unhappy with various aspects of the officiating – including the way his side were awarded a penalty – and said referee Anthony Taylor lost control.

Lewis Dunk was sent off in the Seagulls’ 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest amid various moments of furore in the second half.

Each team was awarded a penalty and cards somehow remained in Taylor’s pocket when Forest defender Murillo took a kick at the grounded Joao Pedro, leading to a melee involving several players.

Graham Scott had the role of VAR for the match.

De Zerbi told his post-match press conference: “I still have big, big confidence in the referees, otherwise I finish with football. They are human, they make mistakes.

“There was a situation at a corner and I understood my player wanted to lose time, but I told them no, we have to be correct and honest on the pitch.

“(Howard) Webb is right about this and the coaches have to help.”

Cooper, whose dad Keith was a Football League referee, said: “I’m really trying to think about how I want to be in the camp of supporting referees and helping the process.

“It is clearly having a massive negative impact on our game at the moment.

“I’m trying to say to myself, ‘let’s not jump on the bandwagon, let’s try to be rational with how we think and our comments’.

“But then we see that from Anthony, one of the top ones, and it’s hard to hold back.

“To think he’s given that penalty and then missed the one which got overturned, caused the animosity on the pitch and in the stadium. It’s where we’re at at the moment.

“He is such a clear, calm and composed referee, you see the games he gets, not just in our country, but outside… did he lose control? He must have.

“There must be so much lack of confidence, to see Anthony perform like that, what are the younger less experienced guys going to be like?

“I will help, I am sure I will be on the phone to Howard, he will probably want to call me tomorrow when he sees it.

“I will speak to him and tell him how I feel. I won’t rant and rave, it is clear to see what happened and not just the penalty decision, the lack of control.

“There were a lot of young players on the pitch today so it is not like there were a lot of experienced heads dictating the referee’s mind and things like that.

“We will still try and help but we have to stand up for our club as well because we can’t have many more decisions like that.

“It will be interesting to see what he does next week when there is a little bit of contact in the box.”