SEAN Dyche felt his side could have had a second half penalty in Saturday’s draw against Queens Park Rangers – although he refused to criticise referee Stuart Atwell.

Andre Gray turned Grant Hall inside the QPR penalty area as he let Ben Mee’s throw come across him, but as he tried to get away from Hall the R’s central defender clearly had a pull of the £6 million striker’s shirt.

But Gray refused to go down as he tried to close in on goal from an angle and the ball was eventually cleared behind for a corner.

Referee Atwell waved away Gray’s claims for a spot-kick, and while Dyche felt the call could have gone his side’s way, he added it was unlikely that a decision like that was going to be given.

“I don’t like to question referees and generally they were good,” he said of the Loftus Road officials.

“The fourth official was excellent in explaining things to us.

“They’re maybes. However small that motion is if it impedes you then it could be given.”

Gray refused to go down after the shirt pull as he tried to add to his tally of 11 Championship goals this season, nine of which have been in a Burnley shirt.

The Burnley boss said he had spoken to Gray after the game, who said his shirt was pulled.

“He’s an honest lad and he’s strong as an ox,” Dyche said.

“I’ve asked him about it and he said ‘he’s got my shirt’.”

Burnley were harshly done by in the defeat to Preston, when Marnick Vermijl should have been sent-off early in the second half.

It was a similar story at Cardiff the week before when Lee Peltier used his hands to divert George Boyd’s shot away from goal, only for the referee to wave away Burnley penalty claims.