Harry Kewell's thoughts after Tuesday's 2-1 defeat to Bristol Rovers in the first round of the Carabao Cup.
HIS OVERALL ASSESSMENT
It was an extremely frustrating. I felt we held our own against a League One side and deserved a lot more. We were physically strong, we tried to play against a decent side and we kept going. On another night we might have been the team going through to the next round.
… THOUGHTS ON THE PENALTY INCIDENT AND POLEON RED CARD
When a defender spreads his arms and the ball hits the arm it’s a penalty. Dom gets booked out of total frustration and then there’s the incident where he got a second yellow. There’s a collision, both players get up and they boot the ball away when it should have been a drop ball on the edge of their box. I didn’t understand that decision – the referee has said things which my players have contradicted. You cannot plan for human error and it’s very disappointing.
Dom gets a second yellow, again borne out of frustration, which means we will be without him on Saturday at Port Vale.
… ON THE PERFORMANCE OVERALL
We looked fit and strong. The youngsters who came in were excellent and I thought Rob Milsom did a job as well. It’s a case of getting minutes under their belts for some of these guys and I thought there were lots of positives for us.
