Bristol City boss questions integrity of league after referee call - praises Sheffield Wednesday after Chris Powell chat

His side played out a 2-1 defeat in what was another important win for the Owls, the Robins falling to defeat to a relegation candidate for the second weekend running after losing to QPR the previous time out. Referee Thomas Kirk and his officials have received a warm summation from many Wednesday fans on social media - it's not a view shared by Manning, who also had good things to say about the Owls coaching staff.

Bristol City had appeals for a penalty turned down in the second half, Robins players believing the ball had struck the hand of a Wednesday man. What irked Manning in the main was the awarding of only five minutes for added time at a point that the Owls had only 10 men on the field after Di'Shon Bernard's red card.

At the start of the season, authorities made clear more added time would be given to avoid teams slowing matches down. Many have commented on that stance seemingly relaxing as the season has gone on. Where teams early on in the campaign may have benefitted from more added time, Manning's suggestion is that has now been taken away.

"There was an appeal for a penalty," Manning said. "I haven't seen that back to be fair. I do scratch my head at some of the things that happened, only five minutes of added time? At the start of the season that's 10 minutes and it impacts the integrity of the competition for me, no added time for goal kicks or throw-ins. I'm scratching my head at some of the decisions I saw today."

A run of 13 matches without a win left Wednesday with an uphill battle from which they are still recovering, 22nd in the table and three points from safety despite an impressive resurgence under Danny Röhl and his coaching staff. Asked whether he felt the Owls were in a false position given the strides they have undertaken, Manning said: "I can obviously go off today and what we saw.

"I spoke to Chris Powell beforehand, you can only compliment the staff and the job they've done here. When you look at Wednesday they're fighting and the lads are giving everything. You can see that in the way the guys are willing to run, willing to compete. You see Barry Bannan running back in injury time to block crosses and track back. When you look at that side of it you can only give credit to them and I wish them all the best."