Bournemouth vs Nottingham Forest match officials got 'huge decision wrong'

Glenn Murray says the match officials got a "huge decision wrong" in Nottingham Forest's crunch promotion showdown with Bournemouth.

Forest were denied a penalty toward the ends of the first half of Tuesday night's Championship clash at the Vitality Stadium. Reds striker Sam Surridge latched on to a through ball from Philip Zinckernagel before appearing to be tripped by Cherries goalkeeper Mark Travers. However, the assistant referee had already flagged for offside.

That meant Premier League referee Stuart Attwell - with no VAR to refer to - did not have a decision to make. But subsequent replays showed that Surridge was actually onside, with Travers not making any contact with the ball when he challenged the Forest forward.

At half-time, with the match still goalless, the Sky Sports pundits gave their view on the incident. Former Forest and Bournemouth front man Murray said: "It's huge. they've brought in Premier League officials in for this fixture and they've got a huge decision wrong.

"I mean, that can decide your season. Forest will be really disappointed. They had hard luck against Luton, they had a perfectly good goal ruled out there, so they'll feel as though they are owed something in the second half."

Fellow pundit and former Forest defender Michael Dawson agreed, added: "It's a fantastic ball from Zinckernagel. He times it perfectly, he really does, and the linesman sees it all the way.

"Can he (Surridge) get there in front of Travers? He does, he gets a touch, and it's a penalty.

"The linesman gives offside and so he doesn't have to make a decision there, Stuart Attwell. It's the wrong decision on both."