SEAN O'Driscoll today insisted Nottingham Forest's performance had deserved more – and launched a fresh call for video evidence to be introduced after a controversial goal condemned his side to a 2-1 defeat.
Paul McShane bundled the ball over the line with his hand to secure a 2-1 win for the Hull City, following a first half in which referee Gavin Ward had awarded penalties for both sides, with Robert Koren and then Billy Sharp converting.
O'Driscoll felt it was a harsh result, following a second half in which Forest were much improved.
"It was a disappointing result, just as it was on Tuesday – but I thought the performance was terrific," he said.
"I had seen Hull play two or three times and they have an extra man in midfield and a floating striker which can both cause teams a hell of a lot of problems.
"But we coped with it very well. It was a chess game in the first half and we did what we had to do. This was always going to be a game where we had to change the way we played.
"We toyed with the idea of matching up against them and going with a back three, but Daniel Ayala fell ill on Friday. We told him to keep away from the ground, because he had a bug and these things have a habit of spreading.
"That gave us a problem and we had to go with a central striker and two wide people. Asides from the result, I am pleased with what we have seen."
O'Driscoll defended referee Ward over his failure to spot McShane's handball – but said that officials need to be given more help.
"The analysts have watched it again and they told us immediately that it was a handball. I spoke to the linesman about it, but there is not a lot you can do," he said.
"You can see by the reaction of our players that something has gone on there. But if the referee doesn't see it and the linesman doesn't see it, they can't second guess.
"With the penalties, it felt as though the referee was evening things up. But I guess you settle for that.
"The linesman gave theirs when he was on the wrong side to give it and when the referee was miles away from the incident.
"We had to make sure that it didn't effect us when it was given and to be fair it didn't. Then we got a soft one ourselves.
"But we are not going to sit here and complain about the referee. We have the technology available to sort things like this out. It is not the referee's fault. While all the complaining and arguments were going on, somebody could have been looking at the incident and saying 'yes, it was a handball'. Then everyone goes home happy."