Saints manager Jan Poortvliet questioned a number of refereeing decisions after his side lost 3-0 to Manchester United in the FA Cup third round.

Referee Mike Riley sent off striker Matt Paterson for violent conduct in the first half and then incorrectly awarded United a second-half penalty during Saints' 3-0 defeat.

Poortvliet said: "I have to see the decisions myself, but I think it was not a penalty, not a red card and the first goal was offside."

Danny Welbeck opened the scoring in the 19th minute by nodding in a rebound from point-blank range after Nani's corner was headed against the crossbar by John O'Shea.

"It was offside," said Poortvliet after watching a replay in the tunnel. "The referee's assistant should see it because he is on the same line as the player."

He added: "They told me (Paterson) went with two feet (for the sending off). It was one foot and it was on the ball. It changed the game because you are always having to come back.

"I think the penalty was cheap. The referee was in the best position.

"I think the referees in England are the best in the world. But our side, we never get decisions like that.

"It's a shame. I feel sorry for the boys because I think they worked hard. If only we could have created more opportunities."

Saints goalkeeper Kelvin Davis disagreed with his manager, however, claiming that the penalty decision was correct.

"From where I saw it it definitely hit his hands," he said.

"You know when someone puts their hands up in the box defending a free-kick, it's not something you want but it hit the guy on the hands as far as I could see and I think it was the right decision.

"From there it's always going to be an uphill struggle."

Davis was not so understanding when it came to the dismissal of Paterson.

He said: "After the sending off it was only going to go one way. We were disappointed with that, that the referee saw it that way.

"We were disappointed to lose a young lad who'd been looking forward to the game, and once we were down to 10 men it was always going to be a big challenge."

United boss Ferguson was a little more reserved in his assessment of the two refereeing decisions.

On the sending off he said: "It's certainly rash and maybe it's easy for the referee to send him off.

"I think maybe if the referee had booked him in the first minutes then maybe it would have calmed him down a bit, because it was exuberance more than anything.

"He was charging about, and it happens sometimes, he was over enthusiastic really."

On the penalty he added: "It's difficult to judge because the boy certainly put his hand up. I can't make my mind up over that one."

Overall, however, the Scotsman declared himself content with his team's performance.

"They're a very young and inexperienced side so you expect us to win," he said.

"Maybe we could have done better but 3-0 is a good result against a good side and trying to score against a young team.

"Southampton have work to do to survive in the Championship and I hope they do because they're a side who give young players a chance and they do it very well."