NEIL Cox felt his Scunthorpe United side were hard done by after conceding a first half penalty in defeat to Wanderers.

The former Bolton star claimed that Jacob Bedeau did not make contact with Nathan Delfouneso as he attempted to clear the ball in the 36th minute.

Referee Anthony Backhouse pointed immediately to the spot, indicating there had been a reckless high boot from the Iron defender.

Eoin Doyle netted from the spot and Antoni Sarcevic made sure in the second half as Ian Evatt’s Whites chalked up a fourth successive victory.

“I know we lost the game 2-0 but yet again a refereeing decision went against us,” said Cox, whose side had won their four previous games.

“I know they had loads of possession but that is never a penalty.

“Their lad never got touched, ours kicked the ball. If you are saying ‘high feet’ that’s disappointing.

“Again, a referee’s decision changed the game. They never appealed for it but I think that’s the 10th penalty we have given away this year.

“I have spoken to the head of the referees’ association and six of them are not penalties. He (Backhouse) hasn’t got the big decision right on the night “In the seconds half, we chased the game, we kept attacking and while we didn’t create much, we had a couple of opportunities and loads of set plays.

“Then we got done by another poor goal. We had a go and I am disappointed we haven’t taken any points off Bolton this season because we deserved more.”

Evatt was delighted with Doyle’s finish, which put him on 12 goals for the season.

It is nearly two decades since Michael Ricketts became the last Bolton player to top a dozen goals in a single season but the Irishman now has 16 games to put his marker down.

“Eoin is a clinical penalty taker and he’s probably not had enough of them this season,” he said. “I think he’s the highest scoring Bolton player for a long, long time and that’s credit to him.

“But we are not going to look at individual performances and records at the moment. As a group we have something to achieve and we want to achieve it.”