The Ref Assessor - Crystal Palace (A)

Burnley make the trip south to Crystal Palace on Saturday and Gloucester based Lee Probert will be the referee. Probert is no stranger to the Clarets having officiated the Clarets twice last season.

His last game in charge of the Clarets was at Turf Moor in November of last season against Crewe, in a match in which he replaced Graham Laws who had been due to officiate the game before he picked up an injury. That match saw us finish 3-0 winners.

On that occasion he used his yellow card twice cautioning Michael Duff and Kenny Lunt. Clarets fans will remember the chorus of “HANDBALL! HANDBALL!” towards the end of the match. However this performance was much better than his other two games officiating the Clarets.

His other match officiating the Clarets last season was at Leicester for our 1-0 victory. In that match he used his yellow card three times, Hughes for the Foxes and Hyde and Sinclair for the Clarets, and all three of the cautions were very harsh. The caution of Micah Hyde was to put it kindly, ridiculous! However the worse tackle of the night, a foul on Duane Courtney, was only punished with a free-kick. 

His only other game in charge of the Clarets was at Home Park for our 1-0 defeat. On that occasion he issued five cautions in a match which many would say he had a shocker. He turned down a blatant penalty early on to Plymouth and cautioned Evans for simulation instead, in a decision that even the Clarets fans could not believe.

Probert is issued 127 yellow cards from 40 league and cup matches, however he has been accused of bottling the second cautions. He has also issued 8 red cards, two of which came in his last match of the season. This season he has officiated 4 games and issued 15 yellow cards and 2 red cards.

On Saturday he will be assisted by Chris Francis and Stephen Tomlinson. The fourth official will be Tony Mason.