Jon Brady calls for officials to 'protect' Brighton loanee Marc Leonard after midfielder was 'targeted' by 'hugely direct' Charlton Athletic

Charlton were not the first team to target Marc Leonard this season

Cobblers boss Jon Brady has called on referees to do more to ‘protect’ Marc Leonard after the midfielder was ‘kicked from pillar to post’ by Charlton during Saturday’s League One contest at Sixfields.

It is not the first time the 22-year-old Brighton loanee has been targeted by the opposition this season but there was nothing subtle about Charlton’s tactic whenever he received possession, not that referee Martin Woods seemed to notice.

Leonard was fouled on six separate occasions in total, three times more than any other player on the pitch, but only one of those resulted in a yellow card and that came in stoppage-time. Eventually the punishment took its toll and Leonard limped off in the final few minutes.

"You could see he was targeted today,” said Brady. “He was kicked from pillar to post every time he got on the ball. The ref did nothing about it and I thought that was pretty poor. The foul count must have been very high on him.

"You should see his shins, there’s a load of blood coming out because he’s been kicked all over the place. You talk about referees doing their job and protecting players but there was none of that today.

"Charlton have gone from a good footballing side under Michael Appleton to being hugely direct and a team that’s trying to be aggressive and trying to get themselves out of a relegation battle and one player they targeted today was Marc Leonard. They kicked the hell out of him and that happens to quality players who are very good on the ball.

"I’m disappointed with that but for two years now Marc’s shown resilience and he kept getting up and finally in the end he had to come off. I think he’s OK but he’s bruised and battered. We could all see what was happening and I think the officials should have managed it better.”

Former Premier League referee Peter Walton agreed with Brady’s assessment on BBC Radio Northampton, saying that the referee was ‘too lenient’ and should have been more proactive in dealing with Charlton’s antics.