Blackpool manager Simon Grayson felt referee Iain Williamson robbed his side of all three points at Southampton.

Blackpool manager Simon Grayson felt referee Iain Williamson robbed his side of all three points as Gary Taylor-Fletcher was denied a late equaliser in the 1-0 defeat at Southampton. The Blackpool midfielder headed home after 80 minutes but referee Williamson blew his whistle moments before the ball crossed the line to instead award the visitors a free-kick. Grayson was furious with the Berkshire official, saying: "Never mind we were denied just a point, we were totally on top of the game and the goal should have stood and we could have gone on to get the three points. "It is hard enough to get results in this division so to have decisions keep going against us is so frustrating. "We're talking about people's livelihoods and I do not know what I will say if we end up going down on referees' decisions.

Error

"He has admitted the mistake but it was a massive error and he just needed to have a bit of patience instead of being too eager to blow his whistle." Grayson had a point as his side came back from the disappointment of conceding Stern John's 35th-minute opener to dominate the second half. Southampton may have struck the crossbar after 51 minutes through John before Blackpool keeper Paul Rachubka then saved Jason Euell's penalty but the visitors can still count themselves hard done by. Taylor-Fletcher forced Kelvin Davis into a full-stretch save after 55 minutes before substitute David Fox tested the Southampton keeper from long range. Ten minutes from time Andy Morrell spurned a golden opportunity to rescue a point. Blackpool's top scorer sprung the offside trap to collect Keith Southern's pass and leave himself with just Davis to beat.

Uncertainty

However, he got his footwork all wrong and blasted his finish embarrassingly over. For Southampton manager George Burley it was a result full of relief as his side recorded a first league win in four and helped alleviate the growing financial uncertainty off the field. Burley said: "Confidence isn't particularly high after recent results but we stuck in there and had opportunities to kill the game off which we didn't take. "I have said all along everybody has got to work hard together, it's key we all stick together as I always said this was going to be a tough season having sold our best players in the summer. "We have got to show character when things are not going well and there is no doubt it is a difficult time off the field but we have all got to battle together."