Another New Ref For Forest Clash

James Linington from the Isle of Wight will take charge of his first QPR game as Rangers host Nottingham Forest tomorrow.

The official, like Mr Gibbs, is in his second season of refereeing in the Football League after a period officiating in the Conference.

Linington has officiated Rangers many times as an assistant referee but has only made the step up to the Football League as the main official last season.

His first league game was Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 home draw with Morecambe, and after only seven League Two fixtures and three in League One he was given his first Championship game - Watford`s 3-0 home win over Burnley.

In 20 games last season he dished out 58 yellows and three reds in 20 games, as he looked forward to officiating more consistently at a higher level.

So far this season he has overseen Torquay United`s return to the Football League in a 2-0 win over Chesterfield and Bryan Gunn`s last game in charge of Norwich with a thumping 4-0 Carling Cup victory over Yeovil.

Rangers` clash this weekend will have seen Linington referee every tier of the Football League this season in three games. He averages one card per game in his three games so far this campaign.

While Mr Gibbs did nothing spectacularly wrong against Bristol City on Tuesday night, he proved himself to be rather weak and easily influenced by a noisy home crowd.

Mr Linington has already shown in his brief career that he`s not afraid to use his book when necessary but it remains to be seen whether he can sustain the pressure of what will be a vocal home crowd.




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