Lee Bowyer wants to see VAR extended from the Premier League into the Championship and believes officials “need all the help they can get”.

The Charlton boss, who spent most of his career in the top-flight, also feels the Premier League plays to a different set of rules to the Championship.

He offered his views on the divisive new technology following the defeat to Wigan Athletic, where both teams complained to officials over key decisions.

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Asked whether he’d like to see VAR in the Championship, Bowyer said: “Why not? If it's that important that they [the officials] get the right decision for the Premiership, then why is it not as important in our division?

“You have teams that are trying to get into the Premiership so, financially, it'd be great for our club to get in there. Why should they [the Premier League] have a different set of rules to us? Because they have. They have got a different set of rules to what we have got.

“Our officials have not got the help that the Premier League officials have got, so why should that happen? That's not right.

“At the end of the day, everybody should be treated the same. If you're going to have this VAR then just spread it around so that everybody gets it.

“The refs need help. It's honestly the hardest job, I think, in the world. I would never do it, you can't win, so I think they need all the help they can get.”

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In the 2-0 defeat to Wigan, Darren Pratley put a hand on Joe Williams’ neck in a heated altercation following confusion at a drop ball situation.

Charlton expected to be passed the ball back, following the restart of play, but instead Michael Jacobs ran with the ball and had a shot.

And in the second half, the Addicks appealed for a penalty when goalscorer Cheyenne Dunkley pulled back Naby Sarr in his own box.

Neither player received further punishment and the clash at the DW Stadium proved to be a tense affair, particularly in a tetchy first half.

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That said, Bowyer had no complaints with how Wigan played. He added: “It was very similar to last week's game [against Birmingham], but you have got two teams that want to win and they did everything they could to win the game.

“Did they do anything wrong? I don't think they did, I think they are trying to win the game just as much as we were, so yeah. have got no complaints with the way they played.

“You had two sets of players that put their bodies on the line and tried to win and they came out on top.”