Backhouse’s performance has come under heavy scrutiny following Norwich City’s 2-0 East Anglian derby defeat, amid a number of controversial decisions.
The most notable came after nine minutes, when Town were awarded a spot-kick following a challenge by Anis Ben Slimane on Jack Taylor, despite play initially being waved on with Norwich breaking on the counter-attack.
Replays appeared to show the Tunisian made no contact with the Town midfielder, who went to ground.
Jaden Philogene-Bidace converts the penalty to hand Ipswich the lead (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)
Jaden Philogene converted the resulting penalty to give the Blues an early advantage, with George Hirst adding a second just before half-time as Ipswich recorded a first Carrow Road win since 2006.
Hackett, who has extensive experience refereeing at the top level, felt the Canaries had every right to feel frustrated by the decision.
“For me, Norwich can feel very aggrieved that a penalty was awarded against them,” said Hackett, speaking to Football Insider.
“Ipswich were rather fortunate to get a penalty here. The ball was being cleared. I think it was a genuine challenge for the ball. I don’t think a foul took place.
“The referee initially looked and was making his way up the field when he suddenly stopped, turned and awarded a penalty.
“I immediately looked to the assistant. Did he flag? Absolutely not. He was satisfied that everything was okay and was also running up the field.
“So, for me, Norwich can feel very aggrieved that a penalty was awarded against them.”
City’s Belgian head coach did not hold back in his post-match press conference, labelling Taylor a ‘cheat’ and reiterating his strong belief in the need for video assistant referees (VAR) in the Championship.
“Then you get a penalty against, which is totally not a penalty, for me,” said Clement.
“Anis wants to clear the ball and the other player (Taylor) sees that moment to be a little bit faster than him, a split-second.
“He then dives into Anis and Anis does not touch his leg like he is pretending. We make a transition in that moment, and four or five seconds later there is a decision to give a penalty against.
“That is a game-decisive moment. This game is about small margins with two good teams who want to play.
“I do not know (if it was given by the assistant), to be honest. In the end, we can talk about it for ten minutes, but it will not change anything because the decision has been made.
Norwich City boss Clement was very vocal about the decision post-match (Image: PA)
“Because of that, like I have said for weeks, I am a fan of VAR to avoid these moments. This was never a penalty with VAR, never.
“This is a player trying to cheat,” he continued.
“Like he has been caught by a tackle, which was not the case. But he wins in this situation, and if you do not have an objective view on these things, more players will try to do this.
“I know the referee cannot always be in the right position to see everything, but that is why they need help. In football, too many games are decided by one or two moments. Those decisions need to be right.”