Hereford United boss Simon Davey is upbeat about his side’s chances at home to Rotherham this weekend, despite their 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Chesterfield on Saturday.
But Davey could not hide his frustration at Saturday’s referee Mark Brown, who produced two controversial decisions which cost the Bulls dearly.
Chesterfield took the lead when midfielder Danny Whitaker scored from the spot after referee Brown had awarded a soft penalty for an innocuous foul on Jack Lester.
Whitaker went on to grab his second goal when the home side caught the Bulls on the break, but his shot required a deflection off skipper Janos Kovacs to beat Adam Bartlett in the visitors’ goal.
The Bulls hit back and Stuart Fleetwood saw his shot cannon off the crossbar while in the same passage of play Sean Canham’s headed effort was saved comfortably by Lee.
Despite coming out for the second half two goals down, the Bulls were unbowed in their quest for an equaliser and pressed the home side hard. But they were hit with another controversial decision when Brown judged Chesterfield keeper Tommy Lee’s foul on Mathieu Manset worthy of a penalty but not a red card.
His decision was compounded when Lee stepped up to save Ryan Valentine’s spot kick.
Whitaker grabbed his hat-trick when a breakout by Lester saw Bartlett scramble the ball clear but only as far as the former Oldham striker, who finished neatly.
Whitaker turned supplier for the Spireites’ fourth goal when he whipped in a teasing corner for defender Simon Ford to head powerfully past Bartlett.
Speaking yesterday, Davey said he was disappointed with the result.
“Obviously it’s disappointing to lose, especially by four goals away from home,” he said.
“I’ve looked at their penalty and watched it over and over again and I’m still convinced it wasn’t a penalty.”
Davey was equally aggrieved at the decision to to not give Tommy Lee his marching orders.
“We had our heads up at the time and unfortunately it went the other way.”
He added: “I think we had enough chances to at least register one goal for an away fixture. It’s early days but we’ll just keep working hard.
“We need a bit of luck and we need to get the ball into the back of the net but we’re still creating chances.”
On the challenge of Rotherham, Davey says the Bulls need to be wary of Millers strike man Adam Le Fondre, who has netted five goals in just three appearances so far this term.
He added: “He has scored goals every season in this division – we have to make sure that we keep him quiet.”
Meanwhile, Davey has expressed his satisfaction with the fee the club has received for winger Marc Pugh, who joined Bournemouth from Bulls during the summer.
A tribunal has ordered the Cherries to pay Hereford £60,000 with the potential for additional money from appearances and a future transfer fee.