Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou insists that he did not dive to win a penalty in the club's Premier League win over Blackpool on Monday night.
The Ivory Coast international was accused of theatrics by Bloomfield Road boss Ian Holloway during the defending champions' 3-1 success.
Holloway believed that Kalou 'could not wait to fall over' under a 62nd minute challenge from Ian Evatt, which allowed Frank Lampard to make it 2-0 from the penalty spot.
But Chelsea's 55th minute substitute, Kalou, who also went on to set up Lampard for the third goal, is adamant that he was fouled by Evatt.
Kalou said in The Sun: "I felt that their defender was going to tackle the ball and so I put my body between him and the ball and he fouled me. Winning the penalty was a great moment for us.
"Blackpool were pushing hard and it was a very physical game so the penalty came at the right time."
Kalou's introduction from the bench in place of Didier Drogba, who had again struggled to form a partnership with Fernando Torres, improved Chelsea's previously edgy performance.
The striker said: "The manager asked me and Nicolas Anelka to warm up.
"And I wasn't sure it was me who was coming on, but the most important thing is just to be ready for the team when they need you.
"It is difficult when you don't play for a long time and then when you come on people expect you to make a difference all the time."
