Cherries assistant boss Steve Fletcher believes gamesmanship may have contributed to Danny Ings’s play-off penalty despair.

Striker Ings saw his first-half spot kick superbly saved by Huddersfield goalkeeper Ian Bennett during the 1-1 draw at Dean Court on Saturday.

The veteran stopper clawed away Ings’s well-struck effort after the teenager had been forced to endure a lengthy delay before stepping up to take the penalty.

Ings waited patiently as referee Mick Russell tried to deal with players from both sides as they jostled for position on the edge of the box. Terriers skipper Peter Clarke and Cherries captain Jason Pearce were both central to the incident, which resulted in a near two-minute stoppage.

Fletcher told the Daily Echo: “From their point of view, you would say it was clever. From ours, we shouldn’t have got involved. We should have just let Danny get on with it.

“In his defence, he had to wait a long time to take the penalty and a lot can go through your mind in a couple of minutes. He hit it well and it was a great save.

“I felt sorry for him but this will make him a stronger person. He is a big character and has come a long way in such a short space of time.

“He will be positive, we will make sure of that. Bradders and myself will put an arm around him and the boys have already spoken to him. These things happen to the best players at World Cup finals. It happened to Danny in a play-off semi-final but he was brave and took the ball.”

Town goalkeeper Bennett, asked by the Daily Echo whether he had been affected by the delay, said: “It made no difference to me. I think it put more pressure on the lad. Fortunately, I managed to dig myself out of the hole I had dug.”

Despite Ings’s misfortune from the spot, Cherries’ display filled both boss Bradbury and Fletcher with encouragement ahead of the second leg at the Galpharm Stadium on Wednesday.

“I thought we were outstanding,” said Fletcher, who came on as a late substitute.

“It was one of our best performances of the season, against a quality team. It was also a fantastic spectacle.

“We took the game to them and passed it around brilliantly. We were full of energy and the crowd was right behind us. We got sucker-punched when they scored against the run of play but the boys didn’t drop their heads. They kept plugging away and showed why we have been in the top six for most of the season.

“We got our just rewards with a great goal from Donal McDermott and could have won it on numerous occasions. Considering the lads had never been in this position, I thought they showed outstanding maturity.”