Jurcevic disappointed with late penalty

West Ham assistant manager Nikola Jurcevic was left disappointed with a point and feels victory was taken away from his side as they had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Leicester.


Jurcevic was angry that Leicester were awarded a penalty in injury time after Andy Carroll was alleged to have brought down Jeffrey Schlupp inside the box.


The Hammers coach has watched several incidents of the replay and believes a penalty should not have been awarded.


But on a positive front he was thrilled to see the players show their fighting qualities once again to come from a goal down and almost take all three points against the Premier League leaders.


Jurcevic said: “We made some changes after we went 1-0 down and then we managed to get ahead 2-1. But in the last seconds we are very disappointed with the late goal.


“On one side we are happy to get a 2-2 draw with the Premier League leaders, but on the other side we could have had all three points as it was not a penalty for Leicester.


“I have seen the replays again about five times after the game and because of this I am very disappointed. We have lost two points.


“But on a positive front we have shown big character to come from one goal down and we managed to come back and score two goals. It was a fantastic shot from Cresswell.


“It was a great game for people to watch up and down the country as it keeps everything open in the fight for first place.”


The points leaves the Hammers three points behind Manchester United in fifth place and Jurcevic says there is still everything to play for in the final five games of the season.


Jurcevic added: “We stay in the fight for fifth place and our dreams of European football are still alive. We have another game on Wednesday and we have a good chance to win this game at home.


“It is realistic for us to play in a European position but we have to focus on the Watford game. Our advantage is that we have a good spirit in the team and we will try to do everything to stay in the top five.”