Roy Hodgson felt Fulham’s goalless draw at Stoke City was a case of two points dropped.

Hodgson said: “When you play as well as that and don’t win the game – that’s what I’m disappointed about. Credit to Stoke, they defended with great gusto and determination. But I do have the feeling today, when you play like that and come to a difficult place to play, and having seen how we coped, I can’t be anything other than disappointed we only took one point instead of three.”

Defender Danny Higginbotham escaped unpunished after appearing to handle a Jimmy Bullard cross in the first half of a scrappy Barclays Premier League encounter at the Britannia Stadium.

That added to Fulham’s frustration after Andy Johnson had fallen into the box after a challenge from Glenn Whelan moments earlier.

The game was a difficult one for referee Stuart Attwell, who controversially awarded a ‘phantom goal’ at Watford earlier this season. Attwell failed to stamp his authority early on and soon had the crowd on his back, but neither manager was prepared to criticise.

Hodgson said: “Penalty? There’s no point in me discussing it. It will be shown over and over again. People will have their opinions and I am almost convinced that 95% of those opinions will be the same and I don’t want to talk about it. I thought the referee, especially after a first half where every decision he made was contested so violently, did well to stand up to the pressure.”