FORMER referees’ chief Keith Hackett has launched an astonishing attack on Martin Atkinson after his performance at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Atkinson has been in the spotlight since the game, with Jose Mourinho suggesting he got four key decisions against his side wrong in the match against Burnley.

The most controversial of those was the collision between Ashley Barnes and Nemanja Matic, which led to Matic being sent off, but the FA have today confirmed they won’t be taking retrospective action against the striker.

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Hackett, who now runs the You are the Ref blog, said: “In recent weeks we have witnessed an improvement in the performances of Martin Atkinson after early season displays not worthy of a professional referee.

“His performance in the Chelsea v Burnley game was not worthy of any referee at any level.

“It was an incompetent display and one of the worst I have ever seen in a game of football.”

Hackett backs Mourinho on all four ‘moments’ in the game, including the first clash between Barnes and Ivanovic in the 30th minute, which he says was a ‘clear red card offence’.

He went on to say that Chelsea’s two penalty appeals, for handball against Michael Kightly and a push from Jason Shackell on Diego Costa, were both ‘clear’ penalties that Atkinson got wrong.

Of the most controversial incident, he said: “In the 69th minute Barnes committed a reckless challenge with excessive force endangering the safety of Nemanja Matic. You could see the leg of Matic bend under this over-the-top potential leg-breaking challenge.

“Atkinson had a clear view of the challenge and did nothing. This no action by the referee was simply breathtaking incompetence.

“Matic decided wrongly to take matters into his own hands and pushed his opponent in the chest in an aggressive manner- and Atkinson punished him with a red card.

“Why did Atkinson not sanction the Barnes challenge with a red card? That is the question his boss Mike Riley should be asking.”