'It should never happen': Raith Rovers defender Tom Lang hits out at rookie referee who sent off Lang and Lewis Vaughan

And Lang – whose team crashed to Alexander King’s early headed goal and also had striker Lewis Vaughan dismissed for a pair of yellows – doesn’t think it was acceptable that the man brandishing the cards was refereeing his first ever game in Scotland’s second tier.

"To have someone refereeing their first ever Championship fixture in a big game with just three games of the season left, surely that needs to be looked at,” ex-Clyde centre back Lang, 25, told the Fife Free Press.

"It should never happen. You should breed your referees at the start of the season in pre-season friendlies, in the Challenge Cup games, not at this stage of the season when there’s so much at stake for teams. It’s not on really.

“After Saturday’s game I felt really frustrated with both bookings. I did feel like the first one definitely hit my chest from five yards away.

"The referee initially didn’t react, didn’t give a free-kick. But he then really bought Morton players shouting for a free-kick.

"He then said to me he wasn’t sure if the ball had hit my hand or not, but he thought it did so he had to book me. I didn’t really understand that at all to be honest with you.

"Then the second one, at the time I was adamant I didn’t touch the Morton player, although I wasn’t 100%. He’s obviously fallen down straight away, I’ve looked at the referee and he’s taken his yellow card out again.

"I’ve watched it back numerous times in slow motion and I can’t see any contact made with the boy. He’s obviously been clever, knew I was in the book and fallen down.

"When you get sent off in a game, without wanting to sound dirty, you want it to be for an actual decision where it is a bad challenge deserving of a red.

"I felt that neither of the two bookings were free-kicks, both were very soft.”

Saturday’s loss was Raith’s fourth in their last five league fixtures, with the side now certain to finish seventh this term with two games left.

But Lang feels there have been mitigating circumstances for the dramatic loss of form.

"It’s hard to look past the injuries we’ve had,” the number 12 added. “That is the main reason for the loss of form.

“And it’s not just injuries as such, it’s that the squad depth already wasn’t high.

"We didn’t have a big squad already and Ross Matthews has been out for the season.

"Since the Motherwell game we’ve not really had a full team to pick from and it makes a huge difference.

"When you’ve got such a small squad like we do it’s very difficult.

"The whole dynamic changes, you start to change formations and it changes week to week.

"Obviously it’s been a tough period and sometimes it’s easy to look in from the outside and think the players don’t care. It’s difficult.

"For example on Saturday I was playing and I wasn’t 100% fit with my hamstring but I was just trying to get out there and help the team do the best we can.

"It’s hard when you’re obviously not playing to your full capability.

"It’s frustrating for everyone. If you’d said to me at the start of the season that we were going to finish seventh I would have been absolutely raging about that.

"I’m an optimistic person, I’ll always believe we’re going to win every game.

"But it’s really difficult for everyone at the club just now and sometimes it’s hard to see it if you’re not directly involved in it.

"I’m proud of the current boys and I think they’ve put in a good shift this season.”