Carlos Carvalhal reflected on two points lost as Wednesday failed to turn our domination into goals in a 1-l draw with QPR at Hillsborough.
The point takes us back up into fifth place, above Derby on goals scored, but the Rams could leapfrog us again on Wednesday night when they entertain Blackburn. The draw with QPR, coupled with wins for the top four, sees us now eight points behind second-placed Burnley.
We had by far the greater share of possession against Rangers but lacked the killer pass or touch in the last third to turn one point into three.
Atdhe Nuhiu missed a great chance to put us ahead on 48 minutes, seeing his weak penalty saved by Alex Smithies after Gary Hooper had been brought down, and then the visitors grabbed the lead 10 minutes later when Daniel Tozser fired home from the edge of the box after poor defending.
Nuhiu redeemed himself when he headed home the equaliser from Daniel Pudil’s cross with nearly half an hour still remaining but more chances were missed as we continued to be the dominant side.
Kieran Lee had a penalty appeal turned down when he burst into the box and went down under a challenge in the closing minutes and then Lucas Joao saw his last-gasp header saved by Smithies.
Carvalhal said: “I’m very happy with the attitude of the team and I’m very happy with the quality.
“We lost a little control for a short period of the game, between the penalty and their goal, but we had a strong reaction and scored to make it 1-1.
“We had some very good chances to score goals so it was our fault. We deserved to win but that is football.”
Referring to the Lee penalty claim, Carvalhal said: “I do not like to talk about the referees as you know but tonight I think that was a certain penalty.
“I have seen the images and I have spoken to Kieran Lee, who would tell me if it wasn’t a penalty, but he said it definitely was and I believe him 300%.
“I don’t like to focus on this decision though because we should have taken our chances and we have to take our part in that.”