Mark Clattenburg hits out over Nottingham Forest VAR 'joke' and defends himself against Gary Neville

Former top ref Mark Clattenburg has spoken out amid the furious Nottingham Forest row - defending himself after Gary Neville called for him to resign from his role at the club.

Forest suffered a hammer blow in their fight against relegation, losing 2-0 to Everton at Goodison Park to leave them teetering just one point above the relegation zone. But the post-match reaction has been dominated by a furious Forest statement after officials dismissed three penalty appeals.

They claim they were denied THREE penalties, including an unpunished handball by Ashley Young, and released a raging tirade on social media criticising the officials' performance and highlighting that the VAR official is a Luton Town fan - one of their direct rivals in their relegation battle. And Clattenburg, employed by Forest as a referee analyst, pointed to the absence of VAR intervention and suggested that Forest felt "victimised" after being on the wrong end of several questionable calls.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: "One of these errors would have been bad enough. Three was a joke, and that is why Nottingham Forest were left feeling victimised after another defeat in which zero big decisions went their way."

Young found himself at the heart of all the major decisions, with Stuart Atwell, the VAR official, choosing not to send the on-field referee for a second look at the monitor. Clattenburg argued that such close calls were exactly why the technology was introduced, and failing to utilise it was a significant mistake.

He stated: "These situations were precisely why video technology was brought into the Premier League and yet, Attwell did not send Taylor to his monitor. Not once. It was a hat-trick of howlers from the refereeing team and, unfortunately for Forest, a continuation of an unjust trend that has hampered their survival fight."

Forest's suggestion that the influence of a Luton fan played a role has drawn heavy criticism. Both Jamie Carragher and Manchester United hero Neville have criticised the club, with Neville suggesting that Clattenburg should step down from his role at Forest.

However, the former Premier League referee insists that the controversy was created by the league and could have been completely avoided if they had made different decisions. "I would not have risked this situation if I were the head of the referees and all of this could have been avoided had the PGMOL simply made smarter appointments," he said. "Referees do not make mistakes deliberately but this was mind-boggling to watch. Why Attwell did not send Taylor to his screen, only he will know."