Carlos Carvalhal reflected on another controversial refereeing decision as 10-man Wednesday went down 2-0 at Derby.
The game couldn’t have got off to a worse start, returning skipper Glenn Loovens sent off after just four minutes for a foul on Matej Vydra, who then got up to fire home the resulting penalty.
It was an uphill battle for the Owls and the incident Carvalhal referred to came just before half time when Steven Fletcher broke into the box and shaped up to shoot, only to be seemingly brought down by Craig Forsyth.
Derby boss Gary Rowett agreed that it appeared to be a penalty and Carvalhal said: “I am disappointed because this is four games in a row when we have had a poor decision against us.
“Steven Fletcher has no reason to go down because he is ready to shoot one on one with the goalkeeper, he is a striker who wants to score.
“Of course, I am disappointed and frustrated.”
Fletcher had earlier missed a headed opportunity and Tom Lawrence had seen his chipped effort come back off a post at the other end, with Kieran Lee clearing the loose ball to safety.
We generally matched Derby for all-round team play, despite not registering an effort on target, and it was still 1-0 with four minutes remaining, before the Rams broke clear from halfway and Bradley Johnson turned home their second goal from inside the penalty area.
This fourth defeat in five games keeps the pressure on Carvalhal as we slip to 16th place, five points behind the play-off places and now only six points away from the bottom three.
The head coach added: “We played very well, we had to adapt very quickly and this is something that we did.
“The players gave everything to get back into this game, they showed heart, they showed soul, and in my opinion we deserved at least a draw.”
Westwood, Hunt, Loovens, Lees, Fox, Wallace (Matias 82), Bannan, Lee, Reach, Hooper, Fletcher (Joao 65).