I’ve never been one to defend Neil Warnock… and I’m certainly not going to start now.

But I do feel a little for the Cardiff fans who had to suffer a terrible refereeing decision that condemned the Bluebirds to a last-minute defeat at the hands of Chelsea last weekend.

Warnock’s little stare-off with the officials at the end of the game was hilarious but there is a deeper issue and that is the standard of refereeing in the Premier League.

Yes, I get the fact that Cardiff themselves benefited from a dodgy decision against Brighton earlier in the campaign but Warnock does have a point – for one of the richest and most successful leagues in the world, the standard of our referees is poor. Consistently.

I know people got fed up of Sean Dyche banging on about us not getting penalties and I know the men and women in black have a difficult job.

But millions of pounds - and hundreds of jobs - are at stake every season and it’s not enough to say that mistakes happen.

Give I don’t think the introduction of VAR is going to be smooth I reckon we’ll still be talking about refereeing decisions for quite a while yet.

I don’t have the answers to how we eradicate the mistakes we’re seeing week in and week out but I think everyone across the game agrees something needs to be done.

What the Chelsea win at Cardiff did do is keep the Welsh club at arm’s length from us in the battle of relegation - and with the Bluebirds losing 2-0 at Manchester City on Wednesday night - the gap will be at least five points by the time they visit the Turf next weekend.

Anything we pick up on our long trip to Bournemouth on Saturday is a bonus and I definitely think it’s somewhere we can go and get something.

Eddie Howe’s side have looked good going forward but we know they concede goals so if we’re positive then you just never know.

Their season has petered out a bit and they’ll be looking to avoid any late-season wobbles, especially given they aren’t mathematically safe just yet.

It should make for a decent game though and the Clarets will go there knowing that a win would pretty much set up the Cardiff game as one where we could secure our survival.

Given how poor our season has been at times that would be a real touch.