Tuesday 26 December 2017 18:39, UK
David Wagner and Mark Hughes both felt they were denied clear penalties during Huddersfield and Stoke's 1-1 draw on Boxing Day.
Ramadan Sobhi's second-half strike cancelled out Tom Ince's early opener at the John Smith's Stadium, but there were two major flashpoints after that, with referee Anthony Taylor waving away strong penalty appeals from each side.
The first came when Joe Allen appeared to bring down Aaron Mooy in the Stoke box shortly after Sobhi's equaliser, with the second coming when Christopher Schindler appeared to trip Mame Biram Diouf at the other end.
"We feel a little bit aggrieved if I'm honest," Hughes told Sky Sports. "It was clearly a penalty on Mame Diouf in the middle of the box. He is shaping to protect the ball and his legs have been taken away from him, so it's a clear penalty."
Hughes suggested the referee was reluctant to award the penalty having denied Huddersfield's appeal just a few minutes earlier.
"Whether or not the referee was influenced by the home team and the home crowd - because they had a penalty call a few minutes before which clearly wasn't a penalty, Joe Allen just shepherded the ball away - maybe that affected his decision-making in terms of what he should have done for us."
Wagner, however, was adamant his side did deserve a penalty, at the same time admitting Stoke were unfortunate not to be awarded one themselves.
"I have seen our situation in the video footage again," said Wagner. "It is a clear penalty where the opponent didn't touch the ball, he only touched Aaron Mooy.
"It's a clear penalty when it was 1-1, so our opportunity to go in front. I think, from my position during the game, Stoke's penalty [appeal] was also a situation where they can get a penalty."
The draw was a frustrating outcome for Huddersfield, who dominated the game for long periods, but Wagner was happy with his side's performance as they continued to exceed expectations, moving up to 23 points in 11th place.
"I'm happy with the performance, absolutely," he said. "I think we played very well, we controlled an opponent who is an established Premier League side over the majority of the time."
Hughes, meanwhile, was pleased to follow up Stoke's 3-1 win over West Brom at the weekend with another point to ease the recent pressure on him.
"Any away point in the Premier League is good," he said. "You have to battle and you have to work hard to get points on the board when you're on the road."
Stoke lost captain Ryan Shawcross to injury in the first half and Hughes admitted he is targeting defensive reinforcements in the January transfer window.
"We're struggling a little bit with defensive personnel," he said. "We've lost our skipper again so they are piling up at the moment. We have to put square pegs in round holes at times.
"So it's a bit tough for the guys at the back, but we've just got to get through this period, get a few back and hopefully get a little bit of help in January as well because we're a little bit short. Then we'll be OK."
