PHIL PARKINSON disagreed with the decision to use VAR to check a key incident in Wrexham's FA Cup defeat to Chelsea at The Racecourse.
The Reds led twice in the fifth round encounter but the Premier League giants battled back to reach the quarter-finals with a 4-2 win after extra time.
Chelsea took control after George Dobson was sent off for a high challenge on Alejandro Garnacho just before the game went into the additional half-hour.
Parkinson felt referee Peter Bankes didn't need to consult VAR which was also used in extra-time when, with Wrexham trailing 3-2, Lewis Brunt was marginally offside when he converted Kieffer Moore's flick-on from Lewis O'Brien's flick-on.
That would have made it 3-3 but Chelsea went and scored a fourth goal at the death, with the Reds' boss feeling hard done by following Dobson's dismissal.
"The first taste of VAR here at the Racecourse, and I know the rule is it's got to be a clear and obvious mistake for the on-pitch decision to be changed," he said.
"I think the ref's got to back his judgment of the real time incident and moment.
"Of course, when you get called over to a screen, which I don't he you should have done, and you analyse it and scrutinise it, they'll say that he's caught him on the shin, but he's scraped his shin.
"But he's in a great position to see the initial incident, and I think it's very harsh and should have kept with the on-pitch decision.
"The offside's the offside, it's marginal, it's Kieffer's header going in anyway? But Brunty is always going to finish that off in that situation.
"It's marginal so we can't complain if that was offside but I think the red card and now to lose a player for three games is a tough decision, and I really don't agree with VAR sending the ref to the screen, and once the ref's gone to the screen him changing his mind because he's had a great view of it."
Sam Smith put Wrexham ahead in the 18th minute when he raced onto Callum Doyle's long ball over the top and calmy slotted past keeper Robert Sanchez.
Parkinson praised the striker who had another chance to make it 2-0 before Chelsea levelled, with Doyle restoring the lead in the second half only for the visitors to level just four minutes later to take the game into extra-time/
"Sam carried a real threat," said the Reds' boss.
"It's a great run and a good finish. He had another chance when he checked back in but I thought he played well.
"It was a good test for us and. I said to Sam, playing against good centre-halves, Rory Delap a £60 million pound player playing for them, let's hope people are talking about you after the game and they so nearly were.
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"Those moments could and maybe should have been part of a winning performance."
The second equaliser came after Wrexham lost possession but Parkinson was pleased with the response.
"A slip on the edge of the box and we got punished for it. You'd rather that didn't happen, but it did," he added.
"You get setbacks within games of football, and it's how you respond, and I was pleased that when those moments happened, the sending off after the goal, we kept going and kept believing there was something in the game for us."
