Mark Hughes was unhappy with the penalty decision that led to what turned out to be Wigan’s winning goal at the JJB Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Wilson Palacios’ clash with Javi Garrido saw referee Steve Bennett point to the spot, and after a delay where three City players were booked, Amr Zaki compounded the situation by scoring.

Speaking after the game, the Blues’ boss said:

“We’ve looked at it again, even at the time it happened I did not think it was a valid claim because their lad dived theatrically and was patently looking for the decision.

“I looked at the video to see if Mr Bennett was in a poor position, but he wasn’t. You have to get these key decisions right in big games, and there were a number that the referee failed to see. We had a real claim for a penalty with Richard Dunne in the opposite box which was not given, so we feel a bit frustrated by an erratic performance by the referee.

“That said, we have lost partly through an outstanding strike from Valencia as well. For all our possession in the second half our tempo and momentum was not at a high enough level to ask more questions of Wigan. Once they were camped out in their own half, they were going to protect what they had and it was difficult for us to break them down.

“We got into decent situations without having that final pass or that degree of guile to be able to create really clear-cut chances. In the end, we did not test the keeper enough in that second half.”

Expanding on Richard Dunne’s penalty claim, where the City captain was caught by Emile Heskey, Hughes added:

“We tried to get an explanation, and Mr Bennett said that it was a coming-together of bodies and that the resulting free kick was for a handball as Richard went down. Richard was clearly impeded, he was in the box so it should have been a penalty. Things were not going our way, which made it difficult to overcome a very committed Wigan side.”