Former Nottingham Forest duo Glenn Murray and Michael Dawson laid into the match officials after the Reds' agonising defeat to Bournemouth.
Forest were edged out 1-0 by the Cherries at the Vitality Stadium in Tuesday night's crunch Championship clash. The result saw the home side clinch automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the visitors' hopes of joining them now rest with the play-offs.
The match was settled late on by a goal from substitute Kieffer Moore following a well-worked free kick. Steve Cooper's men, meanwhile, were left to reflect on what might have been, having been the better side in the first half.
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Sam Surridge hit the woodwork in the opening period, and was also controversially denied a penalty shortly before the break. The striker appeared to be tripped in the area by Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers but the flag was already up for offside. However, replays showed that to be an incorrect call.
Forest head coach Cooper revealed that referee Stuart Attwell - a Premier League official drafted in for the big occasion - had apologised to him about the decision after the match.
“The players are disappointed, of course. And really annoyed with the ref; really annoyed with the referee,” said Cooper.
“When the referee has asked to see me and apologised, held his hands up, it doesn’t make it any better. I think he’s tried to soften me up, to be honest, because he knows he and the linesman have made a huge error.
“But it won’t soften me up. These things need to be reported correctly, which we do.
“There’s a lot of annoyance at that. There’s disappointment, but we don’t say too much after games. We’ll get back, reflect and keep going.”
On the incident itself, Cooper added: “I sort of said that it could be season-defining. I got the feeling that they wanted to speak to me, to nip it in the bud.
“We know that decisions haven’t really been good for us this year. But I don’t want to moan about that, or I’ll be here forever."
Reacting to news of Attwell's apology, former Reds striker Murray told Sky Sports: "It's a sucker punch, after they (Forest) see the celebrations right in front of their faces.
"Fair dos to the refereeing team for holding their hands up and admitting they were wrong but they brought Premier League officials in for this game and I feel that Premier League linesmen don't necessarily always have to make decisions any more. They let the game roll on and they go back and they put their flag up and then it can be assessed, so they've got a get out of jail free card.
"Championship linesmen make decisions constantly week in, week out, and they haven't got the fall back of VAR.
"So I think it just highlights the point that there has been a mistake made by putting Premier League officials in charge of this game."
Former Forest defender Dawson called for VAR (Video Assistant Referee) technology to be introduced at Championship level. He said: "It's a hard job (being a match official). It's why we wanted VAR in the Premier League, and it's why we want it in the Championship. I believe that.
"This is a massive game. This is life-changing. This is a defining moment in the season, because Forest, in the first half, were better than Bournemouth. They had big chances, and that was a big chance at 41 minutes, and if they go in at half-time at 1-0, then it's a completely different second half.
"Yes, Bournemouth were the better team in the second half, but Forest were in the first half. They had two big opportunities, and that's a big opportunity taken away from them. It's clearly onside, and it's a clear penalty."
