Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Paul Lambert has rued his side's luck after they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Championship leaders Newcastle United at Molineux this evening.
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored the only goal of the game just before the break, having earlier avoided a second yellow card for a rough challenge on Wolves keeper Carl Ikeme.
The Midlands side had most of the ball in the second half and mounted a series of late challenges but the Magpies held firm to collect all three points.
"I just felt we were the team pushing for a goal," Lambert told reporters afterwards. "The lads were doing everything I had asked of them in the first half and had got onto the front foot. But we conceded a poor goal. When you see the stats it shows that we were the dominant team and I'm not sure whether the goal should have stood.
"It's the referee's decision [to not send off Mitrovic]. But I've been a player not so long ago and if you are on a yellow card, and you raise your studs, then you run the risk. Carl's actually lucky that there isn't more damage to his Achilles. If the referee can't see it then his assistant has to and missing that is a big moment. There are always big moments in games and big decisions and we never got the break today.
"But I can't fault the lads for the way they are playing. We should have worked the goalkeeper more with the amount of the ball that we had. We got into really good areas to deliver but there were times when we hit the first man or the ball just wasn't breaking for us. It was difficult to break them down but I still think we are playing really well.
"I thought at the start of the season Newcastle were going to get out of the league and I still do. But we have shown we are certainly not a million miles away and I think it is a compliment to us that they defended really deep. With the way we are playing we have come a long way and I expect us to be giving teams like Newcastle a tough game and I expect us to be winning games. We need to be consistent and credit to Newcastle, they have been really consistent and that is why they are up there."
Next up for Lambert's side is a home encounter with Premier League leaders Chelsea in the fifth round of the FA Cup next Saturday.
Neil Wilkes
