Coppell rues penalty decision
Steve Coppell says he could not have asked any more from his side
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Sunday, 01, Apr 2007 07:28
Steve Coppell has said that his Reading team were hard done by referee Alan Wiley's penalty decision in today's 1-0 loss at Tottenham.
Robbie Keane's first-half spot-kick was the difference between the two teams at White Hart Lane, but Coppell claims that Greg Halford was harshly punished for handball.
"The ball popped up and hit his hand, for sure. But no advantage was gained and I'm not sure if the penalty fits the crime," the Royals boss said.
"In the second half the ball hit Michael Dawson on the hand so maybe we could have expected something then.
"We feel a bit hard done but we are not going to moan about things."
Spurs manager Martin Jol said his side deserved the three points that propelled them to sixth in the Premiership table, but claimed his team should have killed the game off after the interval.
The Dutchman commented: "We had three big chances early on and in the second half we had lots of chances to finish them off."
"They had good chances too. They put a lot of bodies forward and took chances so credit to them.
"This was a must-win game - it was a marvellous result," Jol continued.
"They are in the top eight because they are a terrific team who get a lot of men forward. They play good football. With their style it is always difficult and there is always pressure."
And Coppell acknowledged that his disappointment at a narrow loss at White Hart Lane was a "measure of our progress".
"In the second half we had no real creation, they defended well but I couldn't have asked any more from my side," he said.
"On a different day we might have got something."