Sam Allardyce says West Ham's draw at Southampton was like a victory due to red card

Sam Allardyce praised his West Ham players after their goalless stalemate at Southampton in the Premier League on Wednesday night, declaring the draw to be like a victory after they went down to 10 men.

The Hammers lost goalkeeper Adrian to a second-half red card after he handled outside the area following an altercation with Southampton forward Sadio Mane – but the West Ham boss was unhappy at Craig Pawson's decision and insisted the club would appeal.

“I thought it was a foul on Adrian,” said Allardyce after the game at St Mary’s. “Mane had his hands all over his back and obviously the referee (Craig Pawson) and his assistant have made a poor decision in terms of when you look at the incident.

“Of course, before I’ve come out to speak, I’ve gone to watch it to make sure I’m talking from a position of strength and it was a very poor decision indeed – one that may have cost us the game.

I think a point is like a win for us, after coping with what we had to cope with. It feels like a win on the basis of what’s happened.

“But it didn’t because of the bravery of, what became, nine men in the end due to Andy (Carroll) getting injured.

He added: “(The sending-off) took away an opportunity for us to win the game. But I think a point is like a win for us, after coping with what we had to cope with. It feels like a win on the basis of what’s happened.

"We will be appealing it and I'll be very disappointed if he doesn't get off."

Second-half substitute Carroll appeared to get injured late on, but with West Ham down to 10 men and having already made all their changes, the striker was forced to stay on until full-time.

“We didn’t want Andy to have too long today,” explained Allardyce. “He hasn’t trained too much. Unfortunately he’s picked up the same injury he had before.”

Allardyce also confirmed that the potential signing of former Chelsea and Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra is off.

Diarra, 29, had been training with West Ham as a free agent, but will not be able to join until summer, much to the frustration of Allardyce.

“We had agreed a deal, but a FIFA regulation that hasn’t been explained to me yet cannot be overcome so he can’t join us until the end of the season,” he said.