The brutal chant fans sang after injured referee forced off in Charlton vs Wrexham game

Referee Sam Purkiss had an afternoon to forget after he injured his knee and was forced off during a League One game between Charlton Athletic and Wrexham.

Nathan Jones' team - who had picked up five points from a possible nine ahead of the fixture - started off brightly but any momentum created was dashed when man-in-the-middle Purkiss went down in the 11th minute.

Purkiss held his knee as he crashed to the deck and it was met with chants such as "you're not fit to referee" from supporters inside The Valley. After a two-minute delay, Purkiss was fine to continue.

And the pause seemed to help Wrexham more than Charlton as the Welsh side opened the scoring on 16 minutes. Thomas O'Connor's cross was turned into his own net by Conor Coventry.

It didn't take too long for Charlton to respond, though, as they equalised in the 23rd minute. Macauley Gillesphey headed home from close-range after Ollie Rathbone had cleared off the line.

Just as the game started to flow and action began to happen, Purkiss went down once again. This time, he had to be taken off with fourth official Alan Dale replacing him in the 39th minute - and Purkiss stepping aside.

It's not the first time Purkiss has been forced to go off, either, with the referee also being stretchered off during a match between Grimsby Town and Swindon in January 2023 after getting hit by a ball.

Speaking ahead of the contest, Jones felt he was expecting a tough one from Wrexham, who were second in the table heading into the fixture. "I'm expecting a tough game," Jones told the South London Press. "We'll watch them - we have watched them. They are second in the table so they are obviously doing something right.

"They have been promoted twice, so they are obviously doing something right. I know what strengths you have when you are a team that has continuity and gets promoted together - you get used to winning games. So it will be really, really tough - regardless of style and how they set up.

"Regardless of how they take set-plays or how early they get out for kick off - whatever it is it will be a very tough game. That's what we're expecting, but we believe we are a very good side brewing."