ANGRY George Boateng has slammed the Football Association after being brought back down to earth with a bump following the fanfare of Sunday's memorable Carling Cup victory.

Just three days after securing Middlesbrough's first trophy success at the Millennium Stadium, Boateng and the majority of his teammates were asked to play a rearranged fixture at Birmingham City.

Boro, for the most part, looked a disjointed outfit at St Andrews, were comfortably beaten 3-1, and it could have been worse had Mark Schwarzer not made a couple important saves.

After the Premiership defeat manager Steve McClaren offered 'no excuses' but his tough-tackling Dutch midfielder saw things differently.

Boateng fumed: "You can't expect a player to play in Cardiff on Sunday - which was a final - and expect them to play on Wednesday. And don't forget the travelling.

"We played on Sunday and weren't home until ten or 11 on Sunday night. We then trained on Monday before travelling to Birmingham on Tuesday and then playing Wednesday night.

"We don't look for excuses, we tried at Birmingham, but it was not happening for us.

"From the FA's point of view it's rubbish, we are human beings, we are not robots, everybody knew the final was a vital game for us."

As well as firing a broadside at the FA, Boateng did not hold back in his criticism of referee Rob Styles at Birmingham either.

Styles handed out nine yellow cards - including a double for Bolo Zenden - in a game labelled nothing more than a 'typical British game' by Blues boss Steve Bruce.

Boateng was one to be on the receiving end when he was punished for dissent after complaining to the official over a free-kick awarded when Doriva fouled Stephen Clemence - a dead ball that led to Robbie Savage curling in Birmingham's second goal of the night.

But it was the dismissal of Zenden, with three minutes remaining, which enraged Boateng the most.

Zenden - whose two cautions were for fouls on Savage and Damien Johnson - will now miss the return fixture when Bruce leads his men to the Riverside on March 20.

And Boateng said: "For Bolo's sending off, the first one was harsh, everybody knows he's not a dirty player. I thought the referee could have handled it better, it was late, but it wasn't a dirty match.

"He gave me a yellow card because he said I kicked the ball away. All I said was 'I'm sure I've seen two players kick the ball away and nothing has been done'.

"He moved the free-kick forward, it made a big difference. It was a bad night for us but it's not the end of the world. We've got a few days to recover."

Zenden will be allowed to play against Tottenham at home on Tuesday and then Charlton at the Valley a week on Saturday before missing the visit of Birmingham.

Meanwhile, Sam Allardyce could be facing disciplinary proceedings by the Football Association.

The governing body have written to the Bolton boss requesting his observations in connection to comments about referee Mike Riley following Sunday's Carling Cup final.

Allardyce made critical remarks about the official after his team lost to Boro at the Millennium Stadium last weekend.

He said last Sunday: ''We've always had a problem with Mike Riley in our recent history. He hasn't been very kind to us, to say the least.

''Unfortunately, I have to say that he's lived up to his reputation as far as we're concerned.''

Read more about Middlesbrough here.