'You've cost us the game': Fuming Portsmouth boss hits out at referee over Blackburn controversy

The Blues were livid after they weren’t given a penalty in the 61st minute following Blackburn keeper Aynsley Pears’ challenge on Callum Lang with the scoreline at 1-0.

According to Mousinho, the linesman indicated it was a spot kick - only for the match official to decide against awarding a foul.

To rub salt into the wound, Blackburn went straight up the other end and made it 2-0, through Callum Brittain’s fierce strike.

The Blues eventually slipped to a 3-0 loss at Ewood Park, making it six straight defeats on their travels.

And their head coach is adamant that penalty ‘mistake’ was the turning point.

He told The News: ‘You probably saw from my reaction, I knew it was a penalty at the time.

‘Pears comes out, Callum Lang gets the ball ahead of him - and Pears just takes him out. I can’t understand why it’s not given. I’ve just spoken to the referee and had his explanation, I’m not happy with it.

‘I go in and speak to referees after games and most of the time give them honest feedback and qualify anything I say, such as by no means was it the referee's fault that we lost or they didn’t have an influence over the result.

‘That wasn’t the case today - the referee’s decision did cost us the game.

‘The linesman indicated a penalty to the referee and the referee took control of the situation. Normally I wouldn't have an issue with that, but we have had two penalties now this season - Stoke away and Watford away - where the linesman has given both decisions.

‘The referee said Lang got the ball first, Pears then takes him out - but it was a coming together. Well that’s a foul anywhere else on the pitch, it’s a foul in the box, it's a penalty 100 per cent of the time.

‘If the penalty gets given there’s no way anybody complains and says “Oh it’s just a coming together”. They accept a penalty and get on with it.

‘I don’t want to labour the point too much, I think everyone knows it was a mistake. Yet it’s a double whammy because Blackburn go straight up the other end and score.’

Gueye, Brittain and Andi Weimann all netted for the hosts in a disastrous 15-minute spell for the Blues.

It leaves them in the Championship relegation zone after slipping into the bottom three the previous night when they weren’t in action.

Mousinho added: ‘We had a slightly shaky start, but didn't concede and defended really well a couple of times.

‘Then, after 25 minutes, we settled into the game really well. We had a spell of pressure, had a few corners, free-kicks, hit the bar at 0-0 and when we came out in the second half it was more of the same. We actually played a lot better in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

‘I didn’t expect Makhtar Gueye to score from that far outside the back post, so we have to do better there.

‘The second goal is the second goal and the game changes on that, and I think we have to defend better for the third.’