CARDIFF boss Billy Ayre blamed referee Mike Halsey for plunging his side deeper into relegation trouble after Mike Ford's late point-saver was disallowed.

The powerful central defender rose to head home an Andy Legg corner in the dying seconds but Mr Halsey ruled out the effort for a foul on keeper Paul Crichton.

"I don't know why that goal at the end was disallowed.

"It looked a good goal from my point of view," moaned the Bluebirds chief.

And that wasn't the only gripe the former Blackpool boss had regarding the performance of the match officials as the Clarets wrapped up a 2-1 victory, despite the sending off of Glen Little.

"The first goal was down to a linesman's decision -- I thought there should have been an offside against Graham Branch," said Ayre.

"The second one was a defensive error and you can't legislate for that.

"But a couple of crucial decisions went against us and I felt we deserved something from the game.

"As far as I'm concerned, there was nothing to chose between the two sides.

"I didn't think Burnley were any better than Reading, who we beat last week.

"But the crucial decisions went their way and it ended up costing us."

City's 2-1 defeat meant they slipped back into the bottom four in place of Oxford United.

And now Ayre is faced with the major task of trying to preserve their Second Division status.

"We've now got seven games left and we need points from all of them. But we've got to remain positive," added the City boss.

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