Left-back George Friend admitted he felt Oldham Athletic's penalty was undeserved during the Blues 1-0 defeat at the weekend.

Hertfordshire official Keith Hill adjudged Friend to have brought down Oldham's Keigan Parker in the second half.

But the 21-year-old, who is on loan with the Blues for at least a month from Wolverhampton Wanderers, claimed it was not the right decision.

"I'm obviously going to say it wasn't a penalty but I really don't think it was," Friend told Blues Player after the match.

"I didn't really even make a challenge because the ball was going out of play and I was just trying to usher it out when he went down.

"I also slipped over but I don't think the referee was going to give it until his assistant got involved, so it was very disappointing."

Friend was also left frustrated by a refereeing decision at the other end of the field as his close range finish on the stroke of half-time was ruled out for an earlier foul following a free-kick into the box from Simon Francis.

"I don't really understand why it was wasn't given," said Friend.

"It was apparently because there was a foul when someone was challenging for the ball when the cross came in. The fourth official did try and explain it to me but it was just really frustrating."

So too was Southend's display as they failed to impress against the Latics and suffered their first home defeat of the season as Pawel Abbott confidently converted the penalty.

"The general consensus was that we were quite flat and it did seem that way," said Friend.

"It was hard out there but Oldham weren't great either and I think a draw would have been a fairer result.

"I'm no manager so I don't know what went wrong or why it didn't happen for us, but it was disappointing to lose."

Blues, who have slipped to 10th in the League One table, do have an immediate opportunity to bounce back though as they travel to Brentford tomorrow.

And Friend is hoping for all three points.

"It's great that we have a game so quickly after a bad result," said the defender.

"It's a chance for us to quickly put things right again, so we want to go there and get three points to get another good run going."