ADAM Smith insisted he had not dived against Southampton and revealed he had been dealt a "double whammy" by referee Jon Moss.

Cherries star Smith went to ground in the box under a mistimed challenge from Sofiane Boufal during the first half of today's 1-1 draw with the Saints.

Moss elected not to award a penalty and booked the full-back for simulation, meaning he will miss Saturday's trip to relegation-threatened Crystal Palace as it was his fifth caution of the season.

But Smith claimed the West Yorkshire official had apologised for the decision after the final whistle.

Smith said: “I don’t know why he didn’t give a penalty. Someone said the ref didn’t have a great view so he guessed but the lino was right there.

"I went up to the ref after the game and he apologised to me and said it was a pen. At least he admitted it so fair play to him. But they aren’t going to rescind it because they can’t rescind a yellow card.

"I don’t know why they can’t. It’s a big decision in the game which will affect me going forward. I had got myself back in the team so to miss out next weekend is disappointing. It’s a double whammy."

Put to him that he would not want a reputation for diving, Smith said: “I’m not too fussed about that. People can see I didn’t dive so I’m not too fussed if anyone thinks I’m a diver or not.

“It’s just the fact I’m suspended and it could have helped us in the game."

Cherries boss Eddie Howe was adamant a spot-kick should have been given and said he had asked Moss to review the decision and return with his observations.

Howe said: “In my opinion, it was a clear penalty and I had a good view of it.

“If the defender didn’t get the ball, he was in big trouble because he was committed, he was on the floor and Adam went over his leg.

“I can’t work out what the referee saw but that’s the game of football – you live and die by these decisions and I thought he got it wrong.

“We were hugely disappointed because not only did we not get a penalty, we will lose Adam to suspension so it has a knock-on effect for the next game."

Asked if he had spoken to Moss, Howe added: “Only very briefly. I just said I wanted him to have a look at it and give me his opinion and I will await that.

“All you can ask is the referee looks at it and then gives his honest opinion, whether he is right or wrong and learns from it.

“For us, it won’t change it. It was a tough one to take because, at that stage of the game, we were dominant and I thought we deserved to score.

“Thankfully, we did score during the first half but, ultimately, it wasn’t enough to win the game.”