FRUSTRATED Burnley manager Sean Dyche admits he is waiting for his side’s luck with referees to change.

For the second time in 11 games the Clarets were reduced to 10 men in the first half, after Brian Stock was wrongly sent off for two bookable offences.

Even Barnsley players appealed the first booking, while replays showed the midfielder had done nothing to warrant the caution from referee Paul Tierney.

Stock was dismissed for the first time in almost eight years for committing a foul on Jim O’Brien before the break at Oakwell.

“The outcome of a game has radically changed by a referee’s decision and it’s just disappointing because that’s the fourth one that’s gone against us when we feel there’s no grounds for it to go against us,” said Dyche.

Key incidents since the former Watford boss took charge of the Clarets in October include a harsh, early red card for Kieran Trippier in the home defeat to Charlton Athletic, failure to give a foul when goalkeeper Lee Grant was impeded as Ipswich Town scored at Portman Road, and Charlie Austin having a goal ruled out at Birmingham City because the referee had failed to play a clear advantage following a foul on Trippier.

Of this particular incident, Dyche added: “I’ve watched it four times, all you can see is their player – Marlon Harewood – hit him (Stock) in the back of the head. I don’t really understand what Stocky’s part is. There’s a shove from one of our players on theirs after their player had shoved ours and it wasn’t Brian Stock, so I don’t even know why it’s him that got booked.

“Referees have a tough job – I say it all the time. The three toughest jobs on a Saturday afternoon – or Tuesday night or whenever it is – are the two managers and the referee.

“I’m just really disappointed that we’re struggling to get a really big decision go our way.

“I have no trouble with the second decision because that’s modern football. If you grapple with someone, especially round their midriff with their shirt that’s the way it goes, you get booked, but he shouldn’t have been in that position to have to concern himself with that.

“We’ve had some real game changers go against us, and that changed the outcome on Saturday.”

Although Burnley would have grounds to appeal because of the case of mistaken identity, Dyche admitted it was unlikely they would go through with that process after failing to get Trippier’s red card overturned in November.

“I don’t even feel there’s any point nowadays,” he said.

“We did that with Kieran Trippier and got nothing, so there’s really no point.”

Unless the Clarets have a u-turn on their decision not to appeal, Stock will miss Saturday’s visit of Crystal Palace.