CHARLTON boss Alan Pardew bemoaned several tough breaks at Ninian Park as red cards for Jose Semedo and skipper Mark Hudson helped condemn the Addicks to defeat against Cardiff on Saturday.

The visitors saw a bright first half performance spoiled by their own failure to convert several chances, while in-form Ross McCormack gave the hosts the lead at the other end.

But Pardew believes referee Kevin Friend’s decision-making in the second half unjustly left his men fortunate to keep the scoreline at 2-0 after McCormack doubled his tally.

Semedo was dismissed just five minutes after his half-time arrival for a professional foul and then Hudson went for two quickfire bookings shortly after.

Pardew said: “When 11 on 11, I felt we were the better side, but fortune didn’t favour us and referee decisions were tough on us but that’s the Championship for you.

“We tried to keep our head at the end because we could have easily lost more players. We were very frustrated with events that went on today.

“The first red card I thought we had a bit of cover on, but I thought it was a penalty so there was a little give and take there and the way it went couldn't have worked out any worse for us.

“They send my man off and then Cardiff score from the free-kick.”

The manager added: “Hudson's first challenge I didn’t think was a booking; it was a tussle and they were just pulling each other.

“The second one he’s hardly touched Jay Bothroyd and I thought the ref would go over and say: “Look Mark, one more and you're in big trouble,” and he just sent him off, no hesitation.

“Perhaps he should have held back a little bit, but having said that, there’s no way those two incidents were a sending off.

“We started terrifically today, we were bossing the game and perhaps we should have scored. We had two or three big chances, but unfortunately we conceded a goal that could have been avoided and from that moment on the game never really fell for us.”

Pardew also expressed his dissatisfaction at Bothroyd, suspecting the ex-Addicks striker played a part in Hudson’s dismissal.

He explained: “I don’t think Jay Bothroyd did Mark any favours today.

“I don't think he hardly touched him on the halfway line, so we're disappointed with that too.

“We're not angry, I just felt as a professional a little disappointed that he stayed down.”

Despite Charlton having just one win in their last five matches, Pardew feels he has not been let down by his squad and they are more than capable of adding better results to their work ethic, starting with this Tuesday’s evening fixture at home to Bristol City.

He said: “In the end it was just character - it was all we had left.

“When you’ve had two guys sent off, one being your skipper, I thought some of the players showed tremendous character to dig in and try and work hard and restrict Cardiff being two men down.

“We know we need to bounce back on Tuesday, but we don’t feel we've played that badly today. It's a disappointing result and we used a lot of legs today being two men light.

Pardew added: “It looks like we've lost two players for Tuesday night so we've got a little reshuffle to do.

“I don't think you can appeal two bookings, so Mark will definitely miss Tuesday and that’s a big blow to us because he's been absolutely brilliant.

“We have lost games we should have won, and that is something I must correct, but having said that, I do feel this side will cause some damage in this division and we can certainly get ourselves back on track this week.”