Huddersfield Town 0 Doncaster Rovers 0: Dickov demands answers over “penalty”

Paul Dickov wants more clarity on the handball rules after seeing his Doncaster side denied all three points in today’s goalless draw against Huddersfield at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Town manager Mark Robins.Town manager Mark Robins.
Town manager Mark Robins.

The Rovers boss claimed his side should have had a penalty in the second half after Huddersfield captain Peter Clarke handled in the box.

The ball appeared to strike Clarke’s arm and Dickov said: “It was a blatant handball in the second half for a penalty.

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“We have had several meetings with officials and for me it was a penalty.

“The rules need to be cleared up. It’s handball if the arm is in an unnatural position but what is an unnatural position when you are running, jumping and heading?

“I know it’s hard for officials but if they don’t know there’s not much hope for the rest of us.”

Both sides had chances to win the game with Doncaster on top in the first half as David Cotterill forced Alex Smithies into two good saves.

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Cotterill also had a shot blocked and had a curling free-kick tipped over.

James Vaughan had furious claims for a penalty of his own five minutes before half-time when he went down after winning a race for Rob Jones’ weak back-pass but the officials were unmoved.

Adam Hammill and Vaughan had second-half chances for the home side before centre-back Joel Lynch struck the woodwork three minutes from time when it seemed easier to score.

Dickov said: “I was disappointed at half-time because I thought we could have had a couple of goals.

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“We created chance after chance but couldn’t put one away. Overall I am reasonably pleased because we saw a reaction from the players and we were solid.

“A clean sheet is a positive and a point is a positive too. Huddersfield is a difficult place to come and they were always going to put us under pressure in the second half.”

Huddersfield manager Mark Robins would not comment on either penalty incident and said: “I didn’t see a penalty in the game.”

He said a draw was a fair result, adding: “They were fortunate not to be at least a goal up in the first half and we were a lot better in the second half.

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“In all honesty I can’t remember them having a clear-cut chance in the second half. A clean sheet is good and a point is a fair result.

“We want to be better but it’s still early days in our season. We created a number of good chances and on another day they would have gone in.”

Robins was also denied a debut for Swansea right-back Jazz Richards who signed last week on a three-month loan.

International clearance for the Wales international failed to come through before the midday deadline and Robins had to leave him out.

“I don’t know what happened,” he said. “Maybe FIFA want to pay his wages. It’s on the toss of a coin whether clearance comes through for Charlton on Tuesday.”

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