Hughes thought his side should have won a penalty

His side lost midfielder Scott Arfield in the 0-0 draw with Aberdeen, Tim Krul having also been sent off in midweek.

"I'm not going to have a go at the referee's integrity," he said. "He's out there trying to do his best.

"But I will have a go at referees in general. We seem to get the wrong end of the stick every single week."

Interview: Falkirk manager John Hughes

Hughes applauded his players for keeping their discipline despite being on the wrong end of decisions.

"I don't know what we can do about that," he said. "Big decisions go against us.

Scott Arfield lives for his football and he's in the dressing-room distraught Falkirk head coach John Hughes

"I could go back and put a DVD together and hand it in, but nothing gets done about it, so it's pointless.

"All credit to my players for coming through it and sticking together and going to get something out of the game.

"But the sending-off certainly changed the game and put Aberdeen on the front foot."

Hughes felt for Arfield after he was dismissed by Eddie Smith.

"I'm disappointed with the sending-off, it was very harsh.

"He stuck his toe in the water twice, but the referee brought it on himself with the first booking.

"I feel for the young kid. He lives for his football, that's all he wants to do and he's in the dressing-room distraught."

Hughes was also upset at Smith's failure to award his team a penalty when stand-in skipper Darren Barr was felled by Scott Severin.

"I'm just hearing from the TV guys that it was right on the line and it was a penalty," he said. "But us get a penalty? You're joking.