‘All officials should have curry and four pints!’: Cheltenham boss on bizarre scenes as side frustrate Portsmouth

And the Robins boss joked all referees should take advantage of corporate hospitality, after Blues follower Julian Browning stepped up to run the line at Fratton Park.

Browning came forward after TWO officials picked up injuries on Saturday - leaving the game in danger of not being completed.

The unprecedented scenes led to the local league ref picking up the flag and a whopping 26 minutes of stoppage time being played.

Elliott admitted he had some reservations about a Pompey fan taking on official duties, but he needn’t have been worried as his side picked up a hard-earned 0-0 draw.

When asked if he’d ever seen anything like the scenes which unfolded, Elliott told Gloucestershire Live: ‘No, but he's probably the best official we've had this year!

‘They should all have a curry and four pints before coming on because it seemed to do the trick. I did worry when he walked on and did the Messiah salute to the North Stand.

‘But it's something else we've had to deal with and the players dealt with it really well because it would have been easy to lose focus.

‘It actually galvanised the crowd a little bit and gave them a sugar burst of 10 minutes where they really got behind them and we had to weather that, but the players were brilliant.

‘I went in and spoke to them, gave them the facts and asked them what they wanted to do and they said "bring it on”.

The injury to the second official in the 54th minute led to a lengthy stoppage, which undoubtedly stalled the momentum Pompey were trying to build.

Elliott explained how he wanted to deal the unusual situation in the best way possible - so took his players from the pitch.

He added: ‘We didn't know how long it was going to be. I didn't want it to become a circus, with the players stood in the middle wondering what's happening.

‘Get them away, let them refocus and it could have been 15 or 20 minutes. I didn't want the players stood up and talking about going Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday, it was a little bit of that too.’