Saturday 9 February 2019 21:55, UK
Chris Hughton criticised referee Stuart Attwell after Brighton were denied a "blatant" penalty during the 3-1 Premier League defeat to Burnley.
Albion boss Hughton was unhappy Attwell failed to spot an apparent handball by Clarets midfielder Jeff Hendrick.
Visitors Burnley broke away following the second-half incident and were awarded a spot-kick of their own moments later, which was converted by ex-Seagulls striker Ashley Barnes to make it 3-0.
Video Assistant Referee technology is not currently used in the Premier League but Hughton felt the match officials should not have required assistance to award a penalty.
"We needed momentum and probably the disappointment - at 2-0 - we have what is a blatant penalty which is not given," said Hughton.
"And they go up the other end and score. Probably, that was our day today. The moments we needed to show quality we perhaps didn't.
"[It was] a decision that shouldn't need VAR. We have a referee that's probably 10 yards away and a linesman that's supposed to help him out in those situations if he hasn't seen it.
"It wasn't, for me, a difficult one to see. VAR or no VAR, it's one that a referee should have seen.
"If we were to have that penalty, which we should have done, we score it, it's 2-1, we're back in the game, momentum shifts in our favour."
The result, which extended Albion's winless run to six top-flight games, dragged Hughton's side back into relegation danger.
The 14th-placed Seagulls sit level on 27 points with Burnley, three points above the bottom three.
"We probably don't want to speak that way [about a relegation battle] but we are a level of club that's going to have ups and downs and everything's not going to be smooth for us," he said.
"When anybody felt that we might have been in a comfortable position in the league, we never ever felt that.
"We know how difficult this league is and the quality of the teams below us that can all win games. This is a time really to make sure we are aware of that and we need to get points."
