Sowerby was unable to see out of his eye after being caught in the face by 'forearm smash' during Hartlepool draw

Jack Sowerby had to come off against Hartlepool United on Saturday because he was unable to see clearly having been caught in the eye by a ‘forearm smash’.

Sowerby needed lengthy treatment after being caught by Euan Murray’s leading arm early in the second-half. The midfielder tried to carry on but was eventually replaced by Will Hondermarck, with Murray only booked by referee Thomas Kirk, much to Jon Brady’s dismay.

"Jack was forearm smashed in the eye and he had to come off because he couldn't see out of it,” said Brady. “It's tough to take.

"It wasn't flailing, it was quite controlled. The lad knew what he was doing. When you see the inconsistency with Aaron McGowan’s three-game ban and then a blatant forearm blow to the face isn’t given as a red card, it's absolutely diabolical.”

Josh Eppiah was another player forced off at Victoria Park when he made way for Max Dyche at half-time.

Brady added: "It was a block tackle with Josh and he's hurt his knee so he needed to come off at half-time. His knee wasn't feeling good and then Jack gets the arm in the face and he had to come off as well.

"But the players fought and fought and we got ourselves back in the game.”