Hughes: A draw would have been a fair result

MANAGER Mark Hughes didn't mince his words after El-Hadji Diouf's controversial goal settled this Lancashire derby.

Diouf went down in the box after a challenge with Brad Friedel, with TV replays showing that no contact was made between the two footballers. The Senegalese striker picked himself up to take the spot-kick, that was intially saved by Friedel, but Diouf put home the rebound.

"It was a poor game, it was difficult to get any momentum," said Hughes after the game.

"I'm disappointed with the penalty award, it was a diabolical decision in all honesty.

"The lad dived, he's got a reputation for diving, the referee should be aware of that and should have taken that into account, he hasn't and he's been conned.

"We were disappointed that he was still on the field as we felt he had thrown an elbow towards Andy Todd. The referee saw something because he booked him, at the end of the day he should have been sent of twice, he should have been booked for the dive.

"I don't think anybody really deserved to win the game, we were lacking a bit of guile up front, we needed a little bit of quality in the final third and it wasn't there this evening.

"In the first half we were the more likely team to unpick the lock, but we found it more difficult in the second.

"Really a draw was probably a fair result, but to come out of the game having lost was hard to take."

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