Laws Rues 'Bullied' Owls

Owls boss Brian Laws was left to rue the way his troops were 'bullied' at Blackpool, and pointed towards Peter Gilbert's sending off as the turning point of the match.

Wednesday took a 2-1 deficit in to the second half, before defender Peter Gilbert saw red for an off the ball incident with Paul Dickov - a player the Owls' boss had warned his men of before the clash.

'The sending off was obviously a turning point and I think we could be talking about this one for weeks,' Laws told www.swfc.co.uk.

'I haven't seen a replay as yet but what disappoints me is that I told the players that Dickov is an experienced player and a manipulator on the park; he can use his experience and wind you up, don't fall into the trap.

'What did we do? We fell into the trap. He (Dickov) has wound Gilbert up and he bit. Dickov gave him a good nudge and I am not sure exactly what happened but Gilbert obviously responded.

'From that moment on the controversy started to spin out of all control. The referee sent Gilbert off then he took a red out that was going to be for Dickov, then he said it's a penalty, then he says it's not, then he gave him a yellow and gave us a free kick. What is all that about?

'You talk about turning points in games and to get anything from a game you want eleven players on the park. From then we knew we were trailing but we had nothing to hang on to.'

Wednesday conceded in the first minute against Plymouth Argyle on Monday night, and Laws was disappointed that his troops let in another early goal at the seaside.

'First and foremost we put in a poor first half performance, we were bullied, particularly in the midfield,' he contined.

'We lost too many first balls and second balls and they obviously got a lift as we gave away an early goal yet again,' Laws said.

'That gave us a kick up the backside but instead of staying calm and solid until half time we started chasing things and left ourselves open and of course the second goal by Dickov has given the home side a massive lift right on half time.'