Angry Fulham boss Mark Hughes lambasted match referee Mike Dean after he ruled out Tom Huddlestone’s second-half strike for Spurs at Craven Cottage, only to over-rule himself after discussion with the assistant who had raised his flag.

The goal consigned the Cottagers to their first EPL defeat of the season after one win and six draws in their first seven games.

Huddlestone’s shot flew narrowly past an offside William Gallas before beating Fulham keeper Marc Schwarzer. But the Frenchman was deemed not to be interfering with play after Huddlestone led vehement Spurs protests at the assistant’s flag.

 

Hughes confronted Dean at the final whistle and said after the match: “Marc has to hold his position because he is thinking Gallas might stick out his toe.

“So to say Gallas is not interfering with play is completely at odds with the truth.”

Hughes also cited Huddlestone’s combative role in Dean’s U-turn, adding: “he was the first to get into Dean’s face. Obviously he made a compelling argument.”

Striker Diomansy Kamara netted his first Fulham goal in nearly a year against Spurs but admitted this week that he would have left the club under Roy Hodgson.

The 29-year-old said he’d had a “good relationship” with Hodgson but added: “If (he) was still at Fulham I would have definitely gone.

“When Mark Hughes came in, he said ‘you have an opportunity to play and do well.’ So I decided to stay.”

Fulham visit sixth-placed West Bromwich Albion in the EPL this Saturday afternoon.