"Essien was a straight red in my opinion. It was just in front of the dugout and the referee was not brave enough to make the decision, but it was a straight red. He did not play the ball, he played the player. We didn't even talk about Essien before the game so for a deliberate strategy we hid it very well because I don't know about it.
"Somebody told me that Senderos should have been sent off and if that was the case I am not against it. We want the referees to make the right decisions, but I have played a little football in my life and I tell you that Essien just played the player and not the ball - it should have been a straight red."
He also criticised Styles for disallowing Van Persie's perfectly good goal:
"We scored a regular goal but the referee made a very bad decision. I associate the referee and linesmen in the same team - the Chelsea team."
"We hit the post and scored a goal and then just before half-time they scored. We are too long behind Chelsea now to consider that we will challenge them for the championship but I feel we have to qualify for the Champions League and come back.
"We lack a little bit of physical power in certain areas but it is developing well. I think it is the start of a new era."