Dion Charles claims he was owed penalty prior to Hungary scoring winner

Northern Ireland striker Dion Charles insisted he should have been awarded a penalty before Hungary got the winner in Tuesday’s 1-0 friendly defeat at Windsor Park.

Charles was brought on as a half-time substitute and within 45 seconds of the match re-starting he was on the deck after feeling a push in the back from Hungary defender Adam Lang.

But Irish referee Rob Harvey waved away the appeals from the home players, and it proved pivotal as Roland Sallai punished an under-hit back-pass from Niall McGinn 10 minutes later to get the only goal of the night.

“It was a great ball in behind and I’ve done well to get across him,” Bolton striker Charles said. “I knew the only thing he could do was make contact or let me get a shot away and as I got into the box I felt that contact. I was expecting to get the penalty but I didn’t.”

“(The referee said) that he couldn’t quite see it. It happens so fast it can be difficult for the referee but I’m sure when he looks back at it he will be quite disappointed.”

Charles had further chances to score as Northern Ireland brought a string of fine saves out of Hungary goalkeeper Denes Dibusz in a pulsating final 10 minutes of the match.

“The keeper pulled off a great save,” the 26-year-old added. “It was frustrating for the forward players. We had a few chances and on another night we would have put them away. But we kept going until the final whistle and that’s what we’ll continue to do.

“We were very controlled on the pitch. I thought the lads were brilliant all the way through the game. In the final 10 minutes I just kept saying to Shayne (Lavery) we’ll get another chance but it just wasn’t to be.”