BURNLEY boss Steve Cotterill was livid that Burnley slipped to defeat on Saturday to a disputed penalty against defender Michael Duff.He said: “We lost to a penalty that was not a penalty.

By Derek Davis

BURNLEY boss Steve Cotterill was livid that Burnley slipped to defeat on Saturday to a disputed penalty against defender Michael Duff.

He said: “We lost to a penalty that was not a penalty.

“Whether this squad is good enough or not, we gave it a go and it was not a penalty.

“We scored at a great time, right on half-time, and it was a terrific finish by Michael Ricketts but we ended up disappointed.

“We were quite comfortable but conceded two bad goals. “Darren Currie has crossed a ball that should have been headed out but that has been our story.

“Then John McGreal has let the ball through and Alan Lee has nipped in and got a penalty.”

Cotterill also claimed that Lee confessed to it not being a penalty, which the striker hotly denied.

Lee said: “I got a knee in the back of the head as it all happened but I felt the lad got a bit of the ball. I was a bit dazed and didn't know it was a penalty until after I got up.

“I actually thought it was Wayne Thomas who had come in and it was why he was being sent off, which I felt was unfair, but it turns out it was another player.

“I never said to anyone that it was not a penalty. I said the player got a bit of the ball but never said it was not a penalty.”

Blues boss Joe Royle admitted he thought it was a dubious penalty.

He said: “It looked a soft penalty to me. Alan has not dived but there looked minimal contact with the challenge and he slipped.

“But then we had one given against us here against Leeds which looked even less of a penalty than that one, so perhaps it does even itself out over 46 games.”

Cotterill remained adamant that his side deserved at least a point and accused Ipswich of time-wasting as much as his side did.

He said: “I will say that we deserved a point just to get up Joe's nose. He was moaning about how long we took to take a free-kick or a goal-kick but their keeper took just as long when they were 2-1 up.”

Cotterill confirmed Burnley would look into appealing against Thomas' red card for two cautions.