Dean Smith blasted ref Keith Stroud and his two assistants after Brentford's unlucky 3-2 defeat at Reading last night.

The Bees head coach claimed two of Reading's goal should not have stood, and that the man in the middle also missed a blatant penalty when Sergi Canos was shoved in the back.

It was certainly a hard luck story for the Bees, letting a 2-1 lead slip with 13 minutes remaining and getting nothing from a game they dominated, and they have certainly not been getting the rub of the green in recent games.

Smith said: “First 20 minutes they started really well –we played a little bit too deep and they deservedly took the lead – but after that I thought we were the better team. We created a number of chances we probably should have taken and could have been out of sight to be honest.

Reffing 'ell: Brentford got no joy out of Keith Stroud once again

“For me, there's a contentious issue for the second goal. Chris Gunter catches the ball off the pitch and runs 10 yards to take the throw in. It should not have stood, and the officiating has got to be better as it's costing us too many points. I thought the first goal was offside too.

“Dan Bentley then makes a mistake at the end, and we know what happens when goalkeepers make mistakes. He doesn't make many of them, and it's an individual mistake which can be put to bed straight away.

“He will be gutted, but he won't be the only one as we've had chances we've not taken which could have put the game to bed. Scoring is not as problem for us, we've got goals coming from all over the pitch at the moment, and if the officials get the decisions right we will win games.”

The stats will highlight concerns with both Brentford's defending and away form – they have lost their last three on the road, and have conceded 10 goals in the last three games.

Controversial: Reading's second goal

But Smith insists that does tell the whole story, and would be more than happy if his team plays at Sheffield Wednesday next Tuesday the way they did at the Madejski.

He added: “It looks a concern, but I thought defensively, we were good. Okay, you can look in the paper tomorrow and it will say three goals conceded, but one was offside and one's from a throw in from where it shouldn't have been taken.

“On the whole, I can't remember Dan Bentley making too many saves, whereas their keeper kept them in the game. Our attacking intent at times was very good, and when we matched their energy and got higher up the pitch it looked like there was only going to be one winner.

“I thought we were excellent at times and didn't deserve to lose, so it's hard to take. I won't be looking to address our away form if we play like that, and if we play like that at Sheffield we will win the game. I have no doubts about that, because we won't have the same officials.”

Mistake: Reading's third goal