Derek Adams: Gareth Evans should have been sent off for Portsmouth at Plymouth

Plymouth boss Derek Adams was booked against Pompey. Picture: Joe Pepler

The Pilgrims boss reckons the Blues skipper deserved a second yellow card in the 1-1 draw at Home Park on Saturday.

Evans was booked in the 59th minute for a foul on Graham Carey.

That led to Adams protesting in the aftermath, claiming the ex-Fleetwood man ‘launched’ the ball 50 yards out of play after being cautioned.

As a result, Adams picked up a yellow for his troubles 10 minutes later.

However, the Argyle boss reckons Evans’ ‘act of petulance’ should have resulted in him being dismissed by referee Ben Toner.

Adams told Plymouth Live: ‘Evans kicked a ball away after he was booked. He has launched it 50 yards out of play and the referee has not booked him.

‘He should have been sent off from that, but the referee chose to give me a yellow card because I protested that he had kicked the ball away after the referee had blown the whistle.

‘If that is the case, I don’t think the referee is correct in his judgement.

‘Evans should have been red carded. He has launched the ball 50 yards – it wasn’t a pass. It was an act of petulance and the referee has got that wrong in my view.

‘I will have to look that back on the video and slow it down. If that’s the case then I will apologise to the referee.

‘If it’s not the case, I expect the referee to apologise to me and he has made a mistake and to say to me that Evans should have been red-carded for the incident.’

Ben Close opened the scoring for Pompey in the 56th minute.

However, Carey’s 70th-minute free-kick meant Kenny Jackett’s side’s winless streak in League One stretched to five games.

Despite the Blues failing to get their promotion charge back on track, Adams can see why they’re pushing for the Championship.

He added: ‘We have always shown very good character throughout the season and Saturday was no different.

‘Portsmouth are at the top of the league for a reason. They are an accomplished football side and play really good football.

We had to be at it and stop them playing at times, and we did that. We had 60-odd per cent possession of the game, which is very good, and not one of the things you usually get against a Portsmouth team.’