TONY PULIS felt the officials got it wrong when they dismissed Mo Besic during Middlesbrough’s 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers.

Besic was dismissed in the 20th minute at the Riverside, with referee Simon Hooper showing a straight red card after the Bosnian midfielder pulled Bradley Dack’s shirt to prevent his opponent breaking clear into the box.

Hooper initially looked to have missed the incident, but after a pause when he appeared to receive information via his earpiece, he issued a red card.

Pulis accepts that Besic tugged Dack’s shirt, but the Middlesbrough manager felt goalkeeper Daren Randolph would have got to the ball ahead of the Blackburn forward.

Pulis said: “The referee doesn’t send him off – it’s the fourth official and the linesman on our side. I’ll say it now – Besic does pull his shirt.

“But I believe our goalkeeper was getting to the ball first, before their lad. I think it’s a yellow card, not a sending off.

“How they make that decision from that distance – and a decision that ultimately changed the game – is beyond me. I think you’ve got to be 110 per cent sure that you’re stopping him from scoring a goal, or stopping a clear-cut chance.”

Boro suffered a double punishment, with Charlie Mulgrew curling home Blackburn’s opener from the free-kick that followed Besic’s departure.

At that stage, the Teessiders looked like suffering a second successive home defeat, but Pulis’ bold half-time changes altered the course of the game, with substitute Britt Assombalonga curling home a magnificent equaliser midway through the second half.

Pulis said: “The second half was good. I just thought the sending off completely knocked the stuffing out of the lads.

“It was disappointing for Fletch (Ashley Fletcher, who was substituted after Besic’ dismissal) because we wanted to play him a little bit on the left-hand side, cutting in, and I think that was working quite well, up until the sending off.

“Bringing Lewis (Wing) on, I decided to play him and Jonny Howson to try to get around Jordan (Hugill) as much as they possibly could.

“When we got the ball, at least we were playing with three players up there, not Fletch just coming off that one side. Then in the second half, you bring Britt on and you take a chance.”

Pulis was delighted with Assombalonga’s equaliser, but felt his side’s leading scorer should have added to his tally after he levelled the scores.

He said: “Britt scored a great goal, but there were two other chances too. I have to say, the one he misses and the lineswoman puts her flag up, he’s not offside. He’s not offside in a million years, he’s a yard onside. I know he misses it, but he’s a yard onside and they get that one wrong as well.

“The last chance at the end, really and truthfully, without being too critical, you’ve got to score those opportunities.”

Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray was disappointed at his side’s failure to hold on to their lead in the second half.

The former Boro boss felt his side had created enough opportunities to put the game to bed, but praised his former club’s spirit as they battled back with ten men.

Mowbray said: “It’s a very frustrated dressing room. We shouldn’t have dropped points, playing against ten men and having scored from a free-kick.

“Ultimately, we needed the second goal, and it didn’t come. I think if there’s one team in this league you don’t want to play against with ten men, it’s probably Middlesbrough with how good they are behind the ball.

“They’re so defensively stable and solid, and they did what they had to do. I thought we created some chances, Bradley hit the post and we had a few shots.

“We got into some decent areas, but probably lacked that last bit of quality to pick the right pass and put the ball in the back of the net.

“Credit to Middlesbrough. I was right behind the finish, it started a yard or so outside the post and he brought it back in. It was a great finish, but we’re hugely frustrated. Middlesbrough did what they do.”