Hart - We were unlucky

Portsmouth caretaker manager Paul Hart thinks that his side deserved victory in their clash with fellow Premier League strugglers Stoke. The temporary boss at Fratton Park has taken four points from his first two games in charge, but he believes his side would have won a second consecutive game if it were not for a controversial penalty awarded to Stoke.The away side took the lead but were pegged back straight away when Glen Johnson was adjudged to have controlled the ball with his arm inside the penalty box.But the 55-year-old was absolutely sure the wrong decision had been made."I think we were unfortunate not to win. We scored a very good goal, had weathered the storm and defended like Trojans," Hart said.Reeling"But we didn't have time to get into a defensive shape to defend before the penalty, which wasn't a penalty, simple as that."Johnson has leant (towards the ball) but his hands are nowhere near."When you are faced with a decision that you feel isn't quite the right one it knocks you back a bit and I think we were still reeling from that decision (when they conceded the second goal)."Hart thought that his team equipped themselves well in a scrappy opening 75 minutes, before the game exploded into life with Niko Kranjcar's opener."I think David James has had three shots all game to save but this is a very difficult place to come," he added."We knew what it was going to be like but I thought our centre-backs and full-backs were fantastic and we worked hard to get on the ball."

Source: SKY_Sports