Konchesky furious with referee after Roma defeat

(GETTY IMAGES)

Fulham defender Paul Konchesky cried foul after last night's 2-1 defeat at Roma in the Europa League.

The Cottagers led 1-0 at half-time only to see substitute Erik Nevland receive a straight red card early in the second half, allowing Roma to come back.

Konchesky joined Nevland in the changing rooms late in the game after being handed his marching orders for a foul on Rodrigo Taddei.

"In the English Premier League those are not sending offs," Konchesky said to Press Association Sport.

"It completely changed the game, there's no doubt about that.

"It was a shame because we played a great first half and we deserved much more from this match.

"We dominated in the opening half and we showed we were better than Roma."

The result at the Stadio Olimpico marked Fulham's first defeat in the competition and saw them drop to third in Group E, two points behind the Italians with two games remaining.

Fulham host CSKA Sofia on December 3 before meeting group leaders Basel in Switzerland two weeks later.

Konchesky, who is set to miss the game against Sofia, knows his team's hopes of progressing to the next round in Europe have been hit with defeat.

"We still have two games left to play in the group," said Konchesky. "Now we must win both and hope that Roma slip.

"But it's going to be difficult as we now depend on the result of others.

"Obviously the team will have to overcome suspensions and that is an added complication."

However, Konchesky is confident his team will bounce back from this disappointment.

Fulham had gone into the game on a six-match unbeaten streak and will be looking to return to winning ways at Wigan this weekend.

"I think we can get over this defeat quite quickly," said Konchesky. "We have another game on Sunday.

"Hopefully we can start from there again.

"For sure this defeat will not affect the team mentally.

"We just have to recover because playing an entire second half down to 10 men is physically tough.

"It's going to be hard playing at Wigan but we can cope.

"Hopefully we can start well and get a good result there.

"We have two more days to prepare for the game at Wigan and hopefully we will be fine."