Wigan Athletic star 'should have been sent off' - Cardiff City boss

Latics midfielder Lee Evans was yellow-carded seconds after kick-off after a rather robust challenge on his Wales international colleague Will Vaulks.

And the Cardiff boss reckoned the stage of the game led to the official erring on the side of caution.

"It's a delicate one, because you don't want to see players sent off," said Harris.

"If it's being judged by VAR, it's a red card all day long.

"I know it's 10 seconds into the game, but it's a very dangerous tackle.

"Does he just get his timing wrong? Probably, being early in the game.

"Do you expect a referee to send a player off after 10 seconds? No, you don't.

"But is it a red card challenge? Yes, it is.

"And I think when it gets highlighted on the telly, we'll see it was a really dangerous tackle."

After twice coming back from Kieffer Moore goals - the second, a penalty for handball - Cardiff pushed for a winner, and were denied a spot-kick themselves when Cedric Kipre appeared to handle.

Then, in stoppage-time, a winning 'goal' was chalked off for a supposed foul on Latics goalkeeper David Marshall, who was trying to regain his footing after fluffing a punch.

"I've seen it back from a couple of angles, and I've seen an experienced goalkeeper miss a punch and then scramble to try and make a second contact," added Harris.

"We surround him, and he's on his way down, trying to get back up, moving into my players.

"And the referee's got a decision to make in the heat of the moment.

"He's made a decision in the first half, their penalty, which I think was correct.

"But we've had a penalty shout in the second half, when (Cedric) Kipre's moved his hands towards the ball, and he's not given it to us.

"Then at the end, there's a third decision where it's gone against us.

"It's a game we fully deserved to win, and I'm just frustrated that all the big decisions have gone against us."