BARROW boss Mark Cooper felt his side were denied a "blatant" penalty for "a rugby tackle" in the goalless draw with Latics.

Harrison McGahey's first-half challenge on Josh Gordon went unpunished, which went unpunished.

Of the 12th-minute incident, which broke up spells of Latics pressure, Cooper said: “It was a blatant penalty. “I have seen it back on video, it was a rugby tackle.

“Josh was in on goal and their player was the wrong side and brings him down.

“It was the most blatant penalty I have seen in 20 years of management. It is that bad.

“Having said that their keeper made three great saves and we have missed two brilliant chances at the end with Ozzy (Offrande Zanzala).”

Barrow looked there for the taking in a first half that Latics dominated, and Cooper added: “When you play a certain way and have four or five players not quite at it, that can happen.

“We had four or five off colour so you run the risk of turning the ball over a lot and we did that.

“But when you bring substitutes on they have got to effect the game but they didn’t.

“We have been working incredibly hard towards the January window. I will be back on the phone tomorrow trying to make sure we get there.

“We want the best possible centre forward we can that can score 10 goals before the end of the season to get us up the table where we should be.”