Brighton 1 Doncaster Rovers 0: Rovers likely to make appeal following Sharp’s dismissal

Rovers are without an away win since a 1-0 victory at Sheffield Wednesday in September, but Dickov said: “We feel a bit unlucky.

“We were outstanding. We knew they are a top team and we almost weathered the storm and got something from the game.”

Brighton extended their unbeaten home run to six matches with this victory over Doncaster at the Amex Stadium.

Striker Ulloa broke Doncaster’s stern resistance with a 75th-minute header to keep the Seagulls in touch with the play-off places and condemn struggling Rovers to their first defeat in five matches.

Dickov added: “In the second half we caused them some problems. We created more clear-cut chances throughout the game, so we feel that we’ve been done hard by.

“We’ve been on a good run lately and I’d like to think anyone that saw us would think that we can compete at this level.

“We’re not stupid enough to dismiss the threat of trouble, but we have a good chance of getting out of it.”

Dickov hit out at referee Gavin Ward’s decision to send off striker Billy Sharp after a tussle with Brighton defender Gordon Greer.

Sharp appeared to raise an arm in the direction of the Seagulls’ captain in the 86th minute, but the Doncaster boss refuted any suggestion it was deliberate.

He added: “I’ll be speaking to my chief executive and we’ll see whether we can appeal.

“Billy, if anything, has pushed his chest. There’s confusion from my players about what the sending-off was even for.

“There were a lot of things with the referee that I wasn’t happy about. At 0-0 we were being punished for time wasting, but when Brighton scored they did the same.

“I don’t think (Sharp) should miss three games because it was not a sending-off.”

Dickov’s Brighton counter-part Oscar Garcia heaped praise on Leonardo Ulloa.

Garcia believes that Ulloa’s first goal since Boxing Day could be the catalyst for a strong end to the season for the Argentinian striker.

He said: “I hope this will be the start of a long run of goals for him. Leo has been entirely the same player that we know during his goalless run.”

Brighton: Kuszczak, Saltor, Greer, Upson, Ward, Stephens, Ince, Orlandi (LuaLua 62), David Rodriguez (Obika 90),Ulloa,March (Lopez 80). Unused substitutes: Brezovan, Dunk, Agustien, Calderon.

Doncaster Rovers: Johnstone, Tamas (Quinn 46), Meite, Khumalo, Husband, Duffy (Cotterill 76), Keegan, Furman, Coppinger, Brown, Sharp. Unused substitutes: McCullough, Maxted, De Val Fernandez, Peterson, Stevens.

Referee: Gavin Ward (Surrey).