Scunthorpe United boss 'surprised' to see James Perch sent off against Cambridge United

Scunthorpe manager Paul Hurst said he was "surprised" to see James Perch receive a red card during his side's 3-2 defeat to Cambridge United.

The former Newcastle defender was dismissed after 21 minutes for a making stern challenge on Harvey Knibbs as he tried to win the ball back.

Despite being down to 10 men, the Iron still went in at half time leading after Rory McArdle's goal, for United to score three times after the break.

“My initial reaction is that I was very surprised,” Hurst said.

“Speaking to people who had a better view than me, I haven’t seen or met anyone who thought it was a red

“I have seen the footage and he clearly wins the ball and I’m not sure what he’s supposed to do with his foot. That is the issue I have with it.

“He clearly gets the ball so I don’t understand the decision. It is very harsh.

“My first thought is that we will be appealing - but we will have a closer look at it.

“It is a hard one to take as he had just come back from suspension.”

And after clawing the game back to 2-2, Hurst said they were "bitterly disappointed" to be on the losing side and slump to the bottom of the table.

The defeat is a hard one to take,” he added. “The players put in an excellent performance with 10 men for 75 minutes.

“We got in front, then levelled the game and were a whisker away from claiming a point so we are bitterly disappointed.

“It wasn’t to be but I can’t fault the players’ efforts. But we needed to defend crosses better and that is something we have to look at.

“The last three performances have been better, but we have still not managed to get a victory and that is what football is all about.”