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Best side lost, insists Slade

Image: Russell Slade: We didn't deserve to lose

Russell Slade was convinced the best side lost after Leyton Orient went down 1-0 in a fiery home encounter against Bradford.

Bradford boss Phil Parkinson and Orient's assistant boss Kevin Nugent had to be restrained by the players after an interval altercation and both were red-carded by referee David Phillips. The row broke out when the home side felt they were denied a penalty in the final minute of first-half added time, Dean Cox's shot struck the arm of a visiting defender, but ref Phillips, surrounded by irate Orient players, insisted he had already blown for the interval. A first-half strike by former O's player Aaron McLean, who was with the east London side as a schoolboy, proved the decisive moment of the game. Mclean found himself unmarked at the back post and swept home a Garry Thompson corner after 27 minutes to give the Bantams all three points. "I felt that the better team lost the football match," Slade said. "I thought we had three great opportunities to go in front in the game, but as it is so often in this league, if you don't do your jobs at a set-play, you can get punished for it. "It was good to have Jamie Jones back in goal after he had been out since before Christmas, he made a number of excellent saves and I thought his kicking was excellent. "So that's pleasing from a team point of view, but we just need to get back on it, we are finding goals hard to come by at the minute. "We kept trying to pass, but sometimes it's difficult when a team drops so deep. "But I'm sure we'll run back into form at the right time." Regarding the contentious handball decision, Slade added: "I've looked closely at the DVD and it's a clear, clear handball. "Often when there is a corner in the dying seconds, the referee will normally let the ball go into the box, see what happens and then blow up. "Here we are crossing a ball into the box and he blows right at that second."

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