Mansfield boss Paul Cox hailed Luis Suarez a 'fabulous talent' despite the penalty controversy in their 2-1 FA Cup defeat to Liverpool.
In the Field Mill tie that saw Brendan Rodgers' men progress to the fourth round, Suarez doubled the Reds lead in controversial style when he appeared to handle his initial shot.
Cox refused to criticize the Uruguay striker, he said: "I'd like to give the benefit of the doubt and say it was a reaction, he's a goalscorer and I think goalscorers put the ball in the net anyway.
"He's a great fabulous talent, I'd go pay to watch him week in and week out. He's a wonderful player."
Cox also insisted he does not feel Suarez cheated and further praised the Liverpool number seven.
"No I don't. For me to come out and say something like that I think would be quite cheap. If it had gone in the other end and one of our players had done it I think we'd have accepted it," he said.
"This is the FA Cup, this is the beauty of it, sometimes it goes for you, sometimes it doesn't.
"It's a beautiful game and for me he's a fabulous talent and for this country we're lucky to have him here. I don't think we should call him for doing something that I think 99 out of 100 players would do."
Cox also hailed the performance of his non-league Mansfield, he added: "I'm proud of my boys, I thought they were a different level second half. I thought we stood off them and let them play in the first half.
"We've done well against one of the best teams. We've a lot of positives to take out of it."
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