Holloway felt referee 'lost control' after failing to spot early 'dive' in Cobblers defeat

Holloway labelled Oldham's display as 'appalling' immediately after the game and said he felt 'embarrassed' by the referee's inability to spot 'who's playing for a foul and who isn't'.

He repeated those sentiments on Monday morning when speaking to the press ahead of Grimsby's trip to Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday evening.

"Some of the challenges the referees aren’t seeing are brutal," he said. "When I look back, I think you’ve just got to dominate the game yourself.

"The first free-kick he gave, I would have booked the fella for diving, and that’s why I think he lost control of the game personally.

"I’d imagine it’s his first season and he better buck up because he might not have any more."

Holloway is expecting a 'different type of game' against Plymouth to the physical test they were given by the Cobblers.

"The last game was very combative," he added. "They bullied us in the midfield area, they put the ball forward, it fell down.

"They could play by the way, they weren’t bad, but I didn’t think we imposed ourselves like I would’ve wanted.

"I have never seen so many different opponents. You’ll get one who’ll smash you, one who’ll try and outplay you, and it varies from week to week.

"Not everybody plays the same way in this division, which is nice. Every single time it’s so combative, it’s unbelievable. It’s brutal.

"The disappointing thing for us, I had half an eye on catching the people at the top but I feel the defeat on Saturday dented it far too far.

"Realistically, do I expect the same group of players to get from where we were before into a play-off situation? It might be too much to ask, but we all dream, we all keep going."