Referee decisions peeve Pulis

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis said they were not given a fair rub of the green from referee Jonathan Moss in their 1-0 loss to West Ham.

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis said they were not given a fair rub of the green from referee Jonathan Moss in their 1-0 loss to West Ham.

Guy Demel appeared to use his hand while attempting to control the ball inside his own area before Ryan Shawcross tumbled to the ground under pressure from Andy Carroll in the lead up to Jack Collison’s winner.

And, while Pulis believes his side should have been awarded a penalty, he was left more aggrieved by the perceived foul on his captain.

“Their goal is really hard to take – Carroll actually pulls Ryan down and we are disappointed with that and we could have had a penalty in the second half,” he told reporters.

“We thought it was a definite handball. But like the offside rules, handball is a very ambiguous topic at the moment.

“They can say it is handball for one thing and not for something else in a similar situation. You are hoping that will give you a break but we didn’t get a break.”

The loss was just Stoke’s second at home in the Premier League this term, while West Ham move level on points with Pulis’ side in 12th.

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce said the result was their best of the season, moving the Londoners nine points clear of the drop and virtual safety.

“It was the biggest one (victory in the season) without a doubt,” Allardyce told Sky Sports.

“I think we’ve played well enough the last few away games but not got any points and certainly the disappointment on Monday night having played so well against Tottenham and being in the lead and not getting anything out of that was a big pressure on us today and we’ve come up trumps.”