Chris Coleman on Sunderland's plight and the QPR decision that left him frustrated

Chris Coleman believes that Paul Smyth should have been ruled offside in the incident that led to Jason Steele's red card at QPR last Saturday.
Coleman says his team must keep fightingColeman says his team must keep fighting
Coleman says his team must keep fighting

Steele was sent off for handling the ball outside his area as Smyth prepared to shoot into an open goal.

Coleman has admitted that there could be no complaints over Steele's dismissal but felt Smyth was starting from an offside position. He said it was a 'classic example of where we are'.

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He said: "Saturday, the sending off incident, it is a classic example of where we are.

"I had a suspicion at the time that he might have been offside and then when I’ve looked at a still, the linesman is two yards away from where he should be. The QPR striker who closes Steeley down is two yards offside. We don’t get that decision, Steele gets sent off and yeah, we can’t argue with that. We lose 1-0 but I thought the boys deserved more."

Coleman, however, said he felt the mentality of his team during the game was good and they simply had to keep fighting.

The gap to safety increased to five points on Tuesday night as Barnsley drew with Norwich City but Coleman says his team still has every chance of beating the drop.

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He said: "I never thought we were going to lose, yeah we were looking at changing things offensively to ask more questions but we never looked like losing it. It was a kick in the guts really but we can’t dwell on it, and that would have been the same if we won. There’s a fight to be fought and a mountain to climb.

"It is so hard for everybody to stay positive, but that is all we’ve got to do, keep fighting, because we’ve still got a chance. While that is still there the unforgivable thing is not to fight."