SKIPPER Simon Francis believes there may have been a fear factor behind Lee Probert’s decision not to award Cherries a second penalty during the 1-1 draw at Leicester City.

The Dorset club felt aggrieved after the Wiltshire official waved away appeals for another spot-kick after Charlie Daniels had been pushed over by Wilfred Ndidi.

Probert had pointed to the spot in the first half after Marc Albrighton felled Joshua King, the Norwegian picking himself up to slot home the opener.

Giving his take on the second incident, which came seven minutes after the restart, Francis told the Daily Echo: “I did see it from where I was. I appealed and so did most of the lads.

“Chaz might have been a bit off balance but I don’t think the player made an attempt to win the ball. He shoved Chaz over and you definitely see them given. Maybe he didn’t want to give another one.

“I like Probes, he’s a top ref. He had a good game but maybe he was a bit in fear of giving two penalties away from home.

“He probably thought ‘I’ve already given you one penalty, there’s no need for another one’ but I can’t criticise the referee, he was excellent. We should have seen the game out and we didn’t, ultimately, that’s the main story.”

Quizzed on whether he felt it would have been difficult for the referee to award his side another spot-kick, Cherries boss Eddie Howe said: “I think that's what he would think. It's difficult to give another but the hope is that every decision is analysed individually.

"I thought the penalty (which was not given) was a turning point. I thought it was a penalty. Charlie did the defender and went to ground.

"The referee got the first one right. I thought Joshua was fouled. He took it and put it away very well.”

Francis went to ground in stoppage time after he took an unintentional whack to the head and shoulder, following a challenge from Matty James.

And with a minimum of four minutes being added on, he was left to ponder where an extra three came from.

Asked whether the game should have been over before Riyad Mahrez’s 97th-minute free-kick found the net, the skipper replied: “I think so. I know I went down in added time but that was minimal and around 30 seconds.

“I don’t know where the seven minutes came from. Four was put up and it was virtually the last kick of the game. We took kick-off and 10 seconds in he blew up.

“That’s certainly a frustrating part of it but the result is the most disappointing thing.

“We were gutted as you can imagine. It felt a little more like a loss than a draw but the bigger picture is it might become an important point towards the end of the season.”