Right-back Janoi Donacien revealed that referee Andy Haines said that Town centre-half Mark McGuinness had inadvertently scored Pompey's controversial winning goal during their 3-2 after-extra-time FA Cup victory over the Blues at Portman Road on Saturday rather than visiting defender Sean Raggett, who actually stabbed home from a couple of inches when clearly offside.

The contentious goal in the 111th minute ended Town’s participation in the competition at the first round stage for the first time since 1955.

Donacien, one of nine players to come into Paul Lambert's team, admitted that the defeat was difficult to accept, particularly given the manner in which it came about.

“That’s one of the toughest I’ve taken in football in a very long time,” the 27-year-old said.

“I've seen a picture a picture at the end, I think the ref’s said that Mark's put it in. But Mark’s five yards away from it and there’s a guy stood literally behind [keeper] Dai [Cornell].”

Town’s recent refereeing woe has been well documented with big decisions having gone against them at Lincoln and Sunderland prior to Saturday.

Asked whether the players feel cursed at the present time, Donacien added: “Yes, I think the gaffer said something like that after the game. We’re just not getting it, but it will turn for us.”

"Prior to the controversial goal, the Blues had turned the game around from 2-0 down to 2-2, which the St Lucia-born full-back illustrates the spirit in the camp.

“I think it just shows what this group’s got,” he said. “I think we were in charge of the game when they scored their two goals, so then after that I feel like we just continued and kept playing and kept playing and we got our reward for it. But in the end [it was a shame to lose to that goal].

“Everyone gets on well here, everyone’s good, everyone backs each other up, so we know that we will fight for each other to the end.”

The former Accrington man admitted he was feeling the pace in injury time having played rarely this season, his last game having been the Papa John’s Trophy tie against Gillingham a month ago.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve played so it was good getting out there today, but it was just a shame how it ended,” he said.

“I was hoping to [get the shout to play]. I do my bits in training, try and push myself. And then luckily enough the gaffer said ‘Go and have a go’.”

He says players in his position have to take their opportunity when it comes: “That’s football, you get a chance, you have to take it. If you don’t, you can’t have any complaints.”

He added: “It’s tough because you can run as much as you want after training, you can run as much as you want in training, but there’s nothing that can replicate 90 minutes on a football pitch.”

But he believes there is a pathway into the team if he performs when he gets his chance.

“I think so, I hope so,” he continued. “I just have to keep on doing the best that I can do when I get these chances in the cup competitions or whenever I get a chance to show it.”

Does he feel under pressure when he gets a game in those circumstances? “There’s no pressure. There’s pressure in the world right now, there’s no pressure for me to play football.”

Quizzed on whether manager Paul Lambert keeps players who are on the fringes involved on a matchday, Donacien added: “You can tell where you are, it’s just up to you to keep yourself going.

"You can’t wait for anyone. Especially for me, I know my situation, I just have to keep trying my hardest, keep pushing, making sure that he sees me.

“It’s a tough one. I want to play as many games as possible. You just have to keep on going.”

Donacien says he didn’t look to make a move in the summer, despite having featured only sporadically in the couple of months before last season was brought to an early close and having spent the final months of the previous campaign back on loan at Accrington, from whom he joined the Blues for £750,000 in the summer of 2018.

“I wanted to play, I wanted to stay here and play, I wanted to fight for a position,” he said.

Despite having operated as a centre-half and at left-back, Donacien was keen to stress he is a very much a right-back, but at the moment has skipper Luke Chambers blocking his way into the side in that position.

“That’s the tough one, Chambo’s come in and he’s been really, really good,” he said. “If he was playing poorly and still playing then I’d be upset but [I can’t be] if a player’s doing really well.”

And Donacien knows that Lambert’s options in that position will be increased soon with Kane Vincent-Young closing in on a return after his lengthy injury absence.

“More competition, so it’s up to me just to keep my head going and keep ticking on, keep pushing,” he reflected.

Donacien is confident the Blues have what it takes to be among the contenders at the top of League One come the end of the season.

“We’ve got more than enough to be up there,” he insisted. “Just a bit of luck, like you’ve seen, a bit of luck. Things will turn for us.”

Despite his tiredness after 120 minutes on Saturday, the former Aston Villa trainee is keen to be involved when the Blues travel to Crawley for a Papa John’s Trophy tie on Tuesday.

“Yes, I’ll rest on Sunday, get the legs rested, stay away from my kid for a bit and then I’ll be good for Monday, back in training.”

He says his son, aged 18 months, gives him the run around at home: “Definitely. I’ll be chasing him from seven until seven!”

Town face Portsmouth in League One at Portman Road on December 12th. Does he believe that pushing Pompey so close on Saturday will give the squad heart going into that match?

“To be fair last year we had one as well when we lost to them down at their place [1-0] and we wanted to get one over them again today,” he said.

“And I was playing against El [former Town striker Ellis Harrison] and we tried getting to him a bit because he was giving us a bit as well.”

Harrison, sold to Pompey by boss Lambert in the summer of 2019 after only a year at Portman Road, was clearly up for the game at Fratton Park last season and similarly looked to make an impression when he came off the bench on Saturday.

“That’s what El’s about, but I think we should be giving him a bit more,” Donacien said, who was adjudged to have fouled the Welshman for the free-kick which led to the goal, somewhat harshly it appeared.

He says his friendship with Harrison is on hold. “Sometimes [he’s my friend], not today. I won’t speak to him for a while!”

Regarding the free-kick, he added: “It was a bit of tiredness and a bit of him being smart, to be honest. That’s what happened. I’m gutted about it.

“He’s a smart player but sometimes the decision goes for me and sometimes the decision goes for him, and on Saturday it went for him. The friendship’s on hold for a bit.”

Photo: Matchday Images

algarvefan added 19:06 - Nov 8 What's done is done, nothing will change, lets concentrate on the next game and hopefully our luck will turn, these things usually even out over a season.
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TractorFrog added 20:43 - Nov 8 Algarvefan, hopefully you're right, although they didn't even out last season: we're still owed a few.
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Westy added 21:13 - Nov 8 It is about time Linesmen helped referees more as they used too. When was the last time you saw a linesman put the flag across his chest to denote a penalty or denote an indirect free kick in the box for obstruction ? - a generation.
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oldref added 22:00 - Nov 8 Westy: that's because assistant referees no longer signal a penalty kick by means of a flag across the chest. It's a free kick/foul flag but then movement towards the goal line (or with the communications kit at the higher levels). And ‘obstruction' no longer exists. It's ‘impedence'. Update yourself with current laws and instructions by downloading the IFAB app or reading the laws online. You'll enjoy your football more by understanding the laws and how they are interpreted. The County FA also run referee courses for those who have the ability and aptitude. You'll have far less to complain about when armed with the knowledge, and be better able to recognise where things have actually gone wrong if they have!

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ArnieM added 22:11 - Nov 8 So was the ref correct re the three major decisions which changed the game ? 1) Dangerous / reckless challenge ( Red Card offence) 2) Foul in the area ( penalty) 3) Pompeys supposedly winning “ goal” , CLEARLY touched over the kind by a Pompey player in an offside position .
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Garv added 22:12 - Nov 8 One could say this interview suggests all is well in the camp, considering that Donacien has been pretty much as frozen out as one can be in terms of league football.
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oldref added 23:37 - Nov 8 Arnie: Terminology and definitions. Serious foul play: a tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force. Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force...etc” is a red card. However, a reckless challenge is a yellow card. You decide using the evidence seen. I'd go high-end yellow. Then look at the previous match, Dozzell r/c. Many thought should be y/c but it wasn't overturned on appeal. Foul in the area? Seen them given, seen them not. Should we have VAR? Linneker's ‘poll' says 70% of viewers don't want it. Offside goal? I think so from the tv image. Referee could not give offside on his own. Assistant might not see the final touch if his view partly obscured? Another season without an FA cup run. Concentrate on getting out of this league 🤞

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airliner added 02:59 - Nov 9 Really didn't think Donacien had a good first half, seemed slow and outpaced. He wasn't up to speed really.
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Beattiesballbag added 03:14 - Nov 9 oldref: Terminology & definitions. Impeding........Impeding the progress of an opponent means moving into the opponent's path to obstruct,......You might want to update yourself on the IFAB rules, no such word as 'Impedence'. (Westy hope you realize now, that if a player moves into an opponent's path to obstruct .....it's totally different to obstruction.) Did Arnie need to do a refs course to be better able to recognise that the third goal was offside or that Hawkins was pulled over by his shirt in the box or the player dived in with his studs showing, right under the ref's nose........I don't think so . I do think it's a pity though that most of us don't have the ability and aptitude to understand & enjoy the game more, like you do.

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 06:52 - Nov 9 The major offside goal error is bad enough, but it pales into insignificance in my view when compared with the scandalous “handball” against Slumberland.
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Europablue added 07:22 - Nov 9 I don't think anyone is asking for VAR, but it would be nice if the referee would watch the match a bit. The clear penalty for the pull was missed and last match I guess the handball was given due to the rules either being too confusing or the referee misinterpreting them.
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oldref added 08:52 - Nov 9 B'sbag: Impeding...my wrinkly fat fingers...same point though. Understand the background to the decision making. Europa: They do at that level. Proven mistakes can and do have big consequences for them, but we don't get to see that. Isn't it good to have the game back and something to discuss on these cold, lockdown nights?
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bobble added 08:59 - Nov 9 i enjoyed watching the wallabies beat the all blacks on Saturday night, a game which used video to prove the scores were legal, and that fouls required a red or yellow card. the video refereeing added to the game, as we all knew at the end the wallabies were deserved winners and hadn't got lucky because the referee made a mistake or the linesman had missed something. sometimes these things happen in a rugby game, but they are a lot less likely than in a football game...its quick cheap and easy to make football results fairer.

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tractorboybig added 09:08 - Nov 9 if we had not been crap and conceeded two early goals it would not have mattered. If the portsmouth shot that hit the post with 0ur keeper well beaten went in. it would not have mattered. Why are we blaming officials for our defeat? lets look at the reality/
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Dissboyitfc added 09:10 - Nov 9 well said Beatiesballbag... no one needs to be an expert on the law to see that he got 3 major decisions wrong that influenced the game, shocking referee again! Now either the ref doesnt know the rules or he needs to go to spec savers, either way with all thats at stake there needs to be more consistency. And oldref you telling people that they need to learn the rules to enjoy the game is quite insulting! No-one needs to know the rules to see the inconsistency that exists everyweek!!!!

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oldref added 09:43 - Nov 9 Dissboy: read what was written: “...when armed with the knowledge, and be better able to recognise where things have actually gone wrong if they have!” That is absolutely true in the context of my response to the previous contributor. I didn't say you need to learn law (the rules), but it does help. Sorry if you feel “insulted” about your misunderstanding.
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tractorboybig added 10:05 - Nov 9 oldref a little knowledge is dangerous!
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oldref added 10:08 - Nov 9 Indeed it is t'big, indeed it is. Wise words 🙂👍
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JCTractorboy added 10:46 - Nov 9 Even if he hadn't touched it surely he'd have been interfering with play! Re red card, probably a yellow Was defo a penalty though. Offside was one of worst decisions I've seen with not even the goalie playing him onside...moaning won't change anything though, at least it was in the cup, hopefully we spank them in the league in a couple of weeks to make up for it!
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Facefacts added 16:30 - Nov 9 Refs agenda is against us. The officials wanted to get home without the pain of penalties and had to make an excuse for how the goal could've been legitimately scored. Really PL should not say he has been on the phone to Mike Jones and sent him a video. It doesn't help that he can prove the officials are incompetent. Just turns them against us even more.
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blueboy1981 added 19:27 - Nov 9 There is no doubt that the standard of Refereeing at this level is diabolical, there are more competent Referees in local Football than we are seeing at this level. I have no time for Lambert, I see him as capable of nothing more than what we are right now. However, decisions against us have been unbelievable to say the least. I have been involved in, and at various levels all my life, and I just cannot believe what I am currently seeing. At least at Premiership level there is VAR to at least have a second opinion, but that leaves you scratching your head at times. It can only get better - or will it ?

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blueboy1981 added 19:53 - Nov 9 oldref - is correct, rules change in Football, almost if not every season, problem being that many supporters don't realise this and just assume they don't, and are ‘as before' - this is not the case. This does not excuse incompetence, and I am seeing far too much of that from Referees and Linesmen this season. That's an honest comment from someone who has been there, and done it at a reasonably high level. It has to improve.

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statto added 10:19 - Nov 10 If Town and Pompey are not in the top two, then wouldn't it be sweet karma to beat them at Wembley in the Play Off final with a dodgy handball penalty. Alas, there will be no fans there...but I'll love it, just love it if we get promoted on a contentious incompetent call.
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runningout added 10:51 - Nov 10 We got beat. End of. When we start scoring more, we wont need to be bothered about dodgy refs etc :-)
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