Russell Martin believes his Leicester City side were denied a penalty during their 2-1 defeat against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road yesterday.

The Foxes travelled to Kenilworth Road hoping to make it three wins on the bounce. Victories over Doncaster Rovers and Bromley had temporarily relieved the pressure on the manager, but Jack Wilshere’s Luton was always going to represent a much sterner test.

It was a fairly even start to the game, but Leicester thought they had taken the lead just after the half hour mark when Emil Riis hooked the ball home from close range. However, after long discussions between the referee and linesman, the goal was correctly ruled out.

Nakhi Wells gave Luton the lead shortly after, leaving the visitors chasing the game in the second half. The controversial decision came after the break when Hatters midfielder Liam Walsh cleared the ball with an overhead kick inside the box, seemingly catching Will Smallbone on the head. Despite heavy protests, their appeals were turned away.

Leicester’s woes deepened five minutes from time when John Lundstram was dismissed, but they still found the equalising goal from Liam Cullen in the 90th minute. However, their celebrations proved short lived with Callum Marshall winning the game for Luton deep into added time.

Martin Questions Penalty Decision

It was another devastating result which leaves Leicester in the bottom half of the table. Speaking after the game, Martin revealed he thought his side should have been awarded a penalty, although refused to blame the loss on the decision:

“We should have had a penalty on Will Smallbone for a high foot. The boy’s foot is over head height, anywhere else on the pitch and that’s a foul. That’s my only frustration, but it is what it is. That’s not why we lost, we gave away two rubbish goals.”

Also addressing the decision, Town boss Wilshere admitted he wasn’t too sure on whether the right call was made:

“I don’t know, I genuinely don’t know the rule on that. Will it be a penalty or will it be an indirect free kick for a high boot? I didn’t think it was, I think he cleared the ball. Their bench thought it was and at the time, I was like, I don’t think it is, but it’s something I’ll have to watch back.”

“Probably The Right Decision”

The offside goal in the first half was a huge talking point, mostly due to the amount of time which passed between the ball hitting the net and the goal being chalked off. The linesman hadn’t flagged, with the Leicester players celebrating wildly before it was overturned.

There’s no doubt that there was a Luton defender behind scorer Riis. However, the goalkeeper’s position nullified the defender’s position, and the officials came to the right decision. Continuing, Martin stated he was frustrated with the call, although admitted it was probably the right one:

“I don’t think it was clear anywhere. It was probably the right decision having seen it back and I’ve been told it is. My frustration is with the process of how they got there, as I got told the linesman didn’t see, but the ref was really sure about the numbers, so it is what it is.”

Leicester have the opportunity to get back on track on Tuesday night when they host bottom-of-the-table Wigan Athletic at the King Power Stadium.