SAM Allardyce admitted that it was his decision to put Per Frandsen on the spot in the defining moment that ultimately cost Wanderers a second successive home defeat in the Premiership.

Dean Holdsworth was all set to take the 65th minute penalty until the Dane was suddenly nominated from the touchline.

It was the turning point of the game - Thomas Sorensen went low to his right to save the spot-kick from his international team-mate and Sunderland went on to claim the points with late goals from Kevin Phillips and Jody Craddock.

The Wanderers' boss confirmed: "It was my decision for Per to take it,because he'd scored the last one we had.

"You can say now that it was the wrong one. I hold my hands up but the lad Sorensen was outstanding. We were a little unfortunate to find him in that form."

Allardyce had no doubts that the penalty save was decisive in a game Wanderers could and should have won but which ended in disappointment, as the Southampton game had a fortnight earlier.

"Had we gone 1-0 up then it would have been difficult from Sunderland's point of view," he argued.

"In the end it was very, very disappointing to concede from two set pieces - you don't like conceding any goals off set plays.

"Keeping it down to 1-0 you always have a chance to come back and we created several good opportunities as the second half wore on but going 2-0 down was too big a test for us."

Wanderers had hoped to build on the foundations of the two hard-earned points they accrued at Blackburn and Arsenal but a second successive Reebok defeat was a bodyblow.

"It's a hard one to take," the manager said, "because we did so well. We created some good opportunities and the keeper's made some excellent saves. Obviously getting the penalty was all-important. We needed to convert it when we got it but we didn't and it knocked the stuffing out of us. That was the turning point. Sunderland would have had the job of breaking us down and maybe we could have caught them again."

Allardyce was not comfortable about suggesting an opponent should be sent off but he felt Sunderland skipper Michael Gray was lucky not to be shown the red card for denying Ricardo Gardner a goalscoring opportunity when referee David Elleray pointed to the spot.

"It was definitely a penalty," the manager said, without hesitation. "But I would need to see the video."

"I don't want to see players getting sent off, whether they are our players or the opposition's, but if it was a goalscoring opportunity - which it was - then having seen Ricardo get sent off last week for absolutely nothing it was disappointing that the player didn't get punished the same, according to the rules of the game.

"If it's right that the referee should have sent the player off and Sunderland had gone down to 10 men then, perhaps, we wouldn't have lost the game.

"It's crucial for us to score the penalty but it's also crucial for the referee to make the correct decision and, if he hasn't done, then that's got to be very, very disappointing for us."