Referee Ben Toner has been confirmed as the man in the middle for Saturday’s game against bottom-placed Hartlepool United in League Two.
It will be Toner’s first time refereeing County since March 2013 – a 1-1 draw with Macclesfield in the Blue Square Bet Premier, with Jon Macken on the scoresheet for The Hatters that day. He last took charge of a Hartlepool game on the final day of last season, overseeing a 2-0 defeat at home to Colchester United.
Having first been promoted to the EFL as a referee in 2015, he took charge of 31 games in all competitions last season, issuing 89 yellow cards and four reds.
So far this season, he has refereed 20 games in the Championship (1), League One (5), League Two (4), the Carabao Cup (3), the Papa John’s Trophy (6) and the FA Cup (1), showing a total of 63 yellow cards – he is yet to issue a red card this season.
He will be assisted on the day by Kevin Mulraine and Johnathon Bickerdike, whilst the fourth official for this game will be Wayne Grunnil.
