Referee appointed for Blackburn vs Leeds match, Daniel Farke slammed him in August for a ‘crucial mistake’

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Matthew Donohue has been appointed as the referee for Leeds United’s trip to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

Leeds will be looking to make it three Championship victories in a row after back-to-back home wins last week, but face a Blackburn side among a host of teams pushing for the play-offs.

Donohue has refereed just one Leeds match so far this season and that came all the way back in August, when West Bromwich Albion were the visitors to Elland Road in the third game of the campaign.

An injury hit Leeds were dominant throughout the 90 minutes against the Baggies but were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw, with Donohue giving the away side a huge helping hand with some of his decisions.

Leeds summer target Brandon Thomas-Asante opened the scoring for West Brom, but clearly used his arm to divert the ball past Illan Meslier. Joe Gelhardt was also denied a stonewall penalty after a challenge from Cedric Kipre.

Farke was not happy with Donohue performance

Donohue was also extremely card happy throughout the match earlier in the season, handing out nine in total to both sides. Leeds were booked four times, while West Brom five.

Daniel Farke was left fuming with Donohue’s performance and in his post-match interview after the game, criticised him for some ‘crucial mistakes’.

Via the Yorkshire Post, he said: “Normally, I never comment on any decisions of the referee because after the game, we cannot change it. Even the guys from Sky told me it was a clear handball before the goal and also offside.

“I cannot change it right now. In the game, it was too difficult for me to see, but I just had a feeling it was handball and it was quite obvious. I trusted the referee at this moment, but it seems like it was a crucial mistake and it is sad for him. It was even more disappointing and sad for us.

“I think it was pretty close for the penalty, but I haven’t watched it back so far. We couldn’t challenge it and have to accept it. There is no VAR in this league. For that, we have to accept the goal against.”

Unlike against West Brom, hopefully Donohue can go under the radar with his performance and allow two attack-minded teams to go and do their stuff.

Blackburn have already scored 32 and conceded 31 in 19 Championship matches this season and with Leeds’ ‘unplayable’ attack, it should make for an exciting game.