Bilic offers sympathy to under-fire Moss

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has offered support to referee Jon Moss after the official’s handling of his team’s 2-2 draw at Premier League leaders Leicester City came in for heavy criticism.

Moss sent off Leicester’s top scorer Jamie Vardy during the second-half of a heated contest, with the England international facing a further suspension for his angry reaction to receiving a second yellow card for simulation.

Decisions to award penalties to both teams during the closing stages also placed Moss’ performance under heavy scrutiny, with a spot-kick from City substitute Leonardo Ulloa salvaging a share of the spoils deep into stoppage time.

After the match, Bilic suggested Moss had been swayed by a fervent Leicester crowd as the clock ticked down but he was in more reflective mood on Tuesday.

Speaking ahead of his side’s Premier League clash with Watford, the former Croatia international conceded Moss’ task was a tough one and blamed poor game management as the main reason for relinquishing two points at the King Power Stadium.

“I was sympathetic to the referee. It was hard for them and is hard for them and we and the FA need to find a way to help them,” Bilic said.

“The only thing I wasn’t happy about at Leicester was what we did after we scored our second goal, when we didn’t play.

“We played well on Sunday, particularly the way we came back from a goal down to go ahead, we showed great spirit.

“There is no formula for turning draws into wins but if you take Sunday, we were waiting for the game to finish.”

Andy Carroll’s 84th-minute penalty followed up the striker’s hat-trick against Arsenal the previous weekend.

England boss Roy Hodgson moved to temper expectations of the player winning a call-up for Euro 2016 but Bilic feels Carroll, along with the likes of Mark Noble and Aaron Cresswell within his ranks, are worthy of international recognition.

“I’m not objective when it comes to our England players, but we’ve had a good season and that’s down to them,” he added “I think some of them should be in the [England] squad.”