Mark Warburton has called on referees to give striker Andre Gray more protection after his side were beaten 2-1 by Cardiff.

The former Luton striker opened the scoring but found the going tough against the Bluebirds' muscular centre backs, who pushed the rulebook to the extremes to prevent the striker from doing his customary spin around the defender.

However, referee Andy Davies was not willing to give Gray many free-kicks, especially around the penalty area, much to Warburton's frustration.

The Bees boss said: “I thought he could have had more protection. He's a young player and will learn from games like Cardiff.

“The stark difference in the player now to what he was in July when he joined is a testament to his development.

“He will have a big role to play for us in the next nine games, I'm sure.”