Sheffield Wednesday manager Garry Monk has given his honest verdict on the penalty decision that cost his side three points, claiming it initially didn’t appear to be a foul.

The Owls looked on course for a third successive win last night when they made the trip to Pride Park and took a first-half lead through a curling Steven Fletcher finish. However, they were left frustrated as they conceded a late penalty after a foul from Moses Odubajo on Rams forward Jack Marriott.

Wednesday were dominant throughout the first half but could not make that count for more than one goal and they were made to pay when Chris Martin rifled the penalty home to share the spoils.

The penalty itself sparked controversy when Odubajo was deemed to have brought down Marriott, despite it not being very clear-cut as to who was fouling who in this incident. With the players emerging through a crowd of bodies, it gave the referee a tough task of making a decision, especially with Odubajo on the wrong side of Marriott, appearing to be the perpetrator in this scenario.

Speaking to the club’s official site following the game, Monk was not too critical of the referee, but gave his honest verdict on the costly decision: “I haven’t watched it back but my thought at the time was it wasn’t a penalty but it gave the referee a decision to make.”

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The Verdict

It is hard to determine from the various angles of whether it should have been a penalty or not, and there will be strong arguments for and against it.

With that being said, Monk is right to say that Odubajo gave the referee the chance to give a penalty by putting himself in a position where he couldn’t stop Marriott without him being brought down.

Wednesday’s draw at Derby stemmed a lot deeper than just one decision but it is, of course, frustrating to drop points on the basis of one decision.