Blackpool won't sulk over decisions in QPR game vows Jordan Gabriel
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That’s according to Jordan Gabriel, speaking after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with QPR at Bloomfield Road.
The Seasiders ought to have won the game comfortably but were left to rue a number of officiating decisions.
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Hide AdKenny Dougall’s sixth-minute header was wrongly ruled out for offside, while a foul inside the box by Moses Odubajo on Gabriel went unpunished.
Odubajo would then escape with only a booking for a late, cynical slashing down of Josh Bowler.
Referee Joshua Smith did award the Seasiders a penalty in the second half, converted by Gary Madine.
However, Neil Critchley’s side were frustrated after goalkeeper Seny Dieng was only shown a yellow card for his foul on Gabriel that led to the spot-kick.
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Hide AdGabriel said: “The early refereeing call is the difference really but we had to focus and get back on track.
“If the goal was given, the game would have been different but these are things we have to deal with.
“If we sulk and hide, then against teams like QPR we’ll get beaten by a heavy scoreline. But that’s not Blackpool, that’s not what we’re about.
“We will fight until the last minute and, as we saw against QPR, we gave our all and that’s the main thing.”
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Hide AdPool could have been forgiven for losing their heads at half-time as they trailed 1-0 despite dominating.
Gabriel added: “At half-time, the gaffer just told us to carry on playing, that was the main thing.
“We had to get on the ball more and just attack more, and believe in ourselves.
“We knew we were doing things well but you can always improve and we had to chase the game at that point.
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Hide Ad“Thankfully we got a goal back quite early on into the second half, which was massive for us. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the winner.”
As for Gabriel’s involvement in the leveller, he said: “It was a great ball from Jimmy (Husband) and I saw the run, so I thought, ‘Why not?’
“It was open, so I took a touch and the keeper just took me straight out.
“I don’t know why the goalkeeper wasn’t (sent off), it’s not like he was trying to play the ball, but I’m not going to make any excuses. That’s football and we have to move on.”
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