Garth Crooks has slammed Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White for exaggerating the foul which got West Ham midfielder Kalvin Phillips sent off at the weekend.

The BBC Sport pundit said the decision to send Phillips off was “desperately poor” and insisted the game could be in trouble if that challenge warranted a red card.

Crooks shared his view that players should never look to get an opponent sent off in that manner, hitting out at Gibbs-White for his overreaction.

Writing via his BBC Sport Team of the Week column, Crooks shared: “The dismissal of Kalvin Phillips in West Ham’s 2-0 defeat was desperately poor. If we’re now sending players off for attempting to win the ball, then the game is in a perilous situation.

“As for Morgan Gibbs-White exaggerating the challenge, and flying through the air like a trapeze artist, he should be ashamed of himself. Getting players sent off is not what the game has ever been about.”

Kalvin Phillips has had a miserable start at West Ham

The red card against Nottingham Forest capped what has been an awful start to Phillips’ career at the London Stadium, and while Crooks may not agree, the midfielder simply has to do better.

Whether or not you agree that the foul was worthy of a second yellow card, he should know better than to go in for challenges like that when he has only just been booked and is fresh in the referee’s mind.

Aside from the red card, which earned him plenty of stick, he has been widely criticised for his performances since arriving at West Ham, as he appears to be a yard off the pace and is yet to have the desired impact on the team.

Phillips’ place in the England squad has been questioned as a result, and Gareth Southgate could look to shift him in favour of some of the Premier League’s more in-form options ahead of the European Championships this summer.