The composed manner in which Blackburn manager Steve Kean addressed the match-winning penalty awarded against his side in Saturday's 3-2 defeat at Fulham was a welcome lesson in restraint. It was a crucial decision that could yet have dire consequences in such a closely-contested Premier League relegation battle. With a minute to go and the game poised at 2-2, Clattenburg pointed to the spot after Grant Hanley had held down Aaron Hughes. Bobby Zamora rifled home the penalty before a fractious end to the match saw Gael Givet sent off for aggressively approaching the referee. The contentious penalty comes just a week after Clattenburg was heavily criticised for failing to show Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney a red card against Wigan. Kean approached Clattenburg to discuss the penalty and while he disputes the decision, he refuses to condemn the official. "I think he's a good referee and that's why I never spoke to him in an aggressive manner, I just wanted to get his take on it," said Kean. "He felt as though there was enough to award a penalty. There were a pair of hands around Aaron Hughes but it was for a short space of time. "It wasn't aggressive or powerful because Aaron Hughes never even went to ground. "Mark was fine when I spoke to him and got his point across. "I got his take on it, went away to look at the images and then went back to see him again and said 'well, I don't think it was as aggressive as you thought, Mark'. "I told him that maybe when you look at it again you might see it from my point of view. "He said 'I take your point, thanks for coming in the manner and spirit you did'. I respect his decision and referees have a hard job." Fulham manager Mark Hughes was quick to forgive Clattenburg for failing to award his side a spot kick after Christopher Samba had hacked down Andy Johnson in the first half. There was a sense that Clattenburg buckled under pressure from home fans during the Cottagers' late push for the winner, but Hughes sympathises with the difficulties faced by referees. "It's a very athletic game and things happen very quickly," he said. "All referees make honest decisions, sometimes they get them wrong and sometimes on a good day they get the majority of them right. "It's not something I could ever do. I tried it in five a side once and it was hard enough then. "God knows how difficult it is when referees have managers, coaches and players screaming in their ears, saying that they're not doing particularly well. "It's a difficult job and fair play to them, they do it to the best of their ability, but on occasion some of the decisions are mystifying. "From our point of view he got the key decisions right. The penalty was correct - a number of our players were impeded." The impact of Clattenburg's decision overshadowed the return of Zamora, who was making his first Premier League appearance since breaking his leg last September. Twice Damien Duff gave Fulham the lead with a pair of sweetly-struck goals, lifting his tally for the season to five, and twice Blackburn struck back, through Hanley and then Junior Hoilett. But it was Zamora who stole the show with his late goal. "It's massive having Bobby back. You could see from the small time he was on the pitch that he gives us a different threat," said Hughes "He retains possession. Before he came on, we struggled for long periods to keep the ball against two strong centre halves. "When Bobby went up, there was a marked difference in that respect. We've got that option now. "He wasn't happy about playing 25 minutes at Bolton in the FA Cup recently, but he's ready now and he knows he's ready. We can let him off the leash."
