'I think it's got worse since Forest employed Clattenburg'

Former Nottingham Forest striker Michail Antonio feels sympathy for the Reds after their controversial defeat to Everton on Sunday.

The defeat at Goodison Park left the Reds just one point above the relegation zone, and allowed Everton to increase their lead over Forest to four points. That has now been extended to seven points after the Toffees' victory over Liverpool on Wednesday.

Forest were publicly critical of the Premier League's choice of video assistant referee for the game at Everton and, after being denied three penalties, said they were "considering their options" in the aftermath of the defeat.

"That referee should not be on VAR for that game." Antonio told the Footballer's Football Podcast. "This is the business end of the season - no one in the bottom three should be refereeing any games with any of them teams.

"They've had bad decisions all season, but I think it's got worse since they employed Mark Clattenburg. I honestly feel like referees don't want to give them decisions because they've done that. All three could easily have been a penalty."

Antonio admitted that Nottingham Forest are still "close to his heart" after playing at the City Ground from 2015-16.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds