OFFICIALS covering games at League Two level must operate on a full-time basis if key decision-making is to improve, according to Swindon Town manager Phil Brown.

Brown’s comments follow his side’s one-goal defeat to Forest Green Rovers in the opening round of the Carabao Cup at the County Ground on Tuesday night.

Tahvon Campbell’s second-half strike was all that separated Brown’s troops from Mark Cooper’s men, although opinion was split as to whether a foul should have been awarded during the build-up to Campbell’s winner.

Defender Olly Lancashire received an elbow to his face and consequently suffered a broken nose prior to Campbell bursting into open space.

The decision to let play go on frustrated Brown, who admitted he was in no mood to talk to referee David Webb after the full-time whistle.

Brown said: “What does he think Olly Lancashire has done to himself after the ball has gone into the back of our net?

“He’s got a broken nose and blood all over his face. They just do not get the serious decisions right.

“I’ve been to refereeing meetings and I spoke to Mark (Cooper, Forest Green boss) after the game before he was called into a meeting with the officials.

“I was at an EFL meeting where the contents of that meeting were all about the standard of referees at this level.

“It needs to be a full-time responsibility, it needs to be a professional in the middle of the park.

“If you’ve got 22 players and subs and managers – all professional – why is the guy in the middle part-time? I don’t get that.

“If we want to stay with the standard of football that is being played in the fourth tier of English football, then officiating needs to be professional.”

Webb took charge of 43 matches at League One, League Two and Championship level last season - including the League Two play-off final between Coventry City and Exeter City at Wembley Stadium in May.

Offering officials video insight with regards to where errors may have been made was one suggestion Brown put forward when it comes to improving levels of decision-making.

He said: “You want to get better, and the only way you can get better is to get the key decisions right.

“And a key decision on Tuesday night cost me the game. As he came off the field of play I was in no mood to talk to anybody.

“We all make mistakes, but I can’t take a video or DVD to him to show the error of his ways. That’s not me saying I’m exempt from any decision-making process.

“I want to help officials, I don’t want to slaughter them after the game.

“But if I’m filling a form in after the game, I want to fill it in as 100 per cent correct.

“Decisions in the middle of the park anyone can make – a foul, niggle or pull of a shirt.

“But the decisions that lead to a goal – and the only goal of the game – was a poor one by the referee.”