Steve Evans left broken by referees and Leyton Orient defeat

Trailing 1-0 to a Max Sanders goal, Boro thought they had levelled things up when Jordan Roberts blocked a clearance and Jamie Reid knocked the ball beyond Sol Brynn.

However, the referee chalked that off because of handball by Roberts, although replays showed if anything it had hit him squarely on the back.

There were other gripes but after 17 apology emails from referee chiefs, the fight has been knocked out of the Boro boss.

And a near hour long phone call with Howard Webb, head of PGMOL, earlier in the day saw him lay bare his feelings.

He said: "In respect of the overall 90 minutes, I have lost all honesty and faith and everything, lost it all with referees. 

"I’ve said my piece in the week and I’ll say more at a later time but I’ve lost all heart, just by the standard. 

"I’m not questioning anyone's integrity but if that's the standard of refereeing that we're continually seeing now, it’s pretty painful.  

"I spoke to Howard Webb for nearly an hour this morning and he said that if I’d lost that belief, that’s probably a better word, but if you’ve lost that belief then the only way that can be instilled back in is through good performances. 

"And we watched another not good performance. 

"People like Howard and Paul Taylor find it hard, because they didn’t know the numbers.

"They find it hard to accept that in 36 league games up until today, we've had 17 key and big match decisions go against us, all in writing from his organisation. 

"He didn't know the numbers. He knows him now and he will come back to me. 

"Howard’s opinion was that in 36 games, there would be three, maybe a maximum of four big decisions would be against you. 

"He found it hard to believe but our secretary’s forwarding them to him. 

"I accept that football is about opinion, referees give decisions and I accept all that, I'm just saying that inside me, I have nothing left for them, nothing.  

Evans admits he will have to raise his spirits quickly as he will be the one that the players and staff will look to for motivation.

That is tough at the minute though.

He said: "The one thing they won’t get is me down in the dumps on Sunday and Monday. 

"I will be personally but my job is to make sure these young men are full of confidence. 

"The players are in the same boat, They're frustrated, they have to endure it. 

"We just want a level playing field every week." 

"We're only trying to achieve the same prize as Portsmouth are and Peterborough and Derby and Barnsley are. 

"Just give us an equal chance to achieve that. It’s knocked all the stuffing out of me."

Richie Wellens is restrained by Dan Sweeney after the Orient boss started a scuffle. Picture: TGS PHOTO (Image: TGS Photo) 

On the match itself, Evans said they had no complaints after their first half but they did improve after four substitutions at half-time.

He said: "We were very poor in the first half, as poor as we've been at the Lamex. 

"We lacked everything we're good at, particularly energy, getting hold of the ball and turning them with a bit of quality. 

"We had none of that. 

"We've gone in at half time and we made four changes, it could have been nine or 10. 

"The changes worked and territorially we've laid siege to their box without really creating and the one or two good chances that come, we don’t take and we pay the price."