Early in the second half, McFlynn was felled by a Scott Jamieson tackle and after several minutes in pain he was then instructed to play on but went to ground again.

After further discussions with the referee he was given a red card and hobbled off the field. It was later revealed that the player had suffered damage to his anterior cruciate ligament.

Sydney coach John Kosmina said he was ‘disappointed' with how the situation was handled.

He said: "We are going to pursue the matter because we think it was maybe a little bit harsh.

"We were a bit disappointed he wasn't able to receive any medical treatment; he's not the sort of guy that will go to ground and try milk time.

"We were losing 1-0 anyway so why would we try and waste a bit of time?

"So we will have a look at what we can do with that because I don't think he was aggressive or abusive towards the referee."

Kosmina said the extra time McFlynn was kept on the pitch may have made his injury worse.

"He's walking out to the bus on crutches at the moment with cruciate ligament damage and that could've been because he wasn't allowed to receive treatment.

"We'll ask that question."

Kosmina said the incident may have been the turning point in the contest. But the former Reds coach did try to draw positives from the loss.

"You have to look at the performance more so than the result. We played quite well. It's the best 90 minutes we've put together, consistent 90 minutes for quite a period of time," he said.