Dan Burn was bemused at Brighton not being awarded a penalty during Saturday’s Premier League stalemate with Norwich after team-mate Neal Maupay was brought down inside the area at Carrow Road.
The French forward attempted to round Canaries goalkeeper Tim Krul in the 22nd minute but went down after he appeared to be clipped by the home custodian.
Referee Peter Bankes awarded a goal-kick after VAR had briefly checked the incident and, while the contact appeared faint, it was enough to knock Maupay off balance with the goal at his mercy.
“If he hadn’t been clipped, he wouldn’t have gone down because he could have put it in,” left-back Burn insisted.
“We thought it was a penalty but obviously VAR has had a look and not thought that. We have to believe what they say.”
The centre-back played his part in the 0-0 draw, making two excellent tackles inside the penalty area to deny Josh Sargent and Teemu Pukki in the second half.
He was joined on the pitch by fellow defender Tariq Lamptey after the break with the former Chelsea full-back making his first Premier League appearance in 10 months.
A number of hamstring injuries have halted the development of the highly-rated youngster but he is fit again and being carefully managed by boss Graham Potter, who introduced the 21-year-old to huge applause from the travelling faithful in the 58th minute.
Burn told BBC Sussex: “It has been a tough time for Tariq, especially early in his career so I am really happy for him.
“I am glad the club are looking after him and not throwing him in or putting too much pressure on him.
“You saw how much the fans are buzzing about him when he came on. I am sure Tariq will keep building and the sky is the limit for him. He is a great player and great lad so I just hope he kicks on.”
Brighton’s second-consecutive goalless draw extended their unbeaten run to five matches in the top flight but the 29-year-old conceded they were unhappy with their performance against Norwich.
“We didn’t really perform as well as we can, going from the Arsenal game, so we are a little disappointed,” Burn added.
“I think the majority of their chances probably came from our mistakes which probably summed up our performance a little bit but to come away with a point and clean sheet keeps it going for us.”
Bottom side Norwich were left with mixed emotions after they made it two games without a defeat after they backed up the stalemate at Burnley before the international break.
It could have been all three points for Daniel Farke’s men though after Sargent failed to find the net when presented with an open goal in the 44th minute, while Pukki poked the ball wide when one on one.
Right-back Max Aarons told the official club website: “It was definitely our best performance this season. As a team I feel we are improving and hopefully we can start turning those draws into wins.
“I think the performance had everything apart from that final bit in terms of finishing it off. We were defensively solid, just like we were at Burnley, but we created more going forward.
“We just lacked that final bit in front of goal. If we were a little bit more confident, we would have got the three points.”
