Patrick Bamford fears referees are encouraging players to go down after he feels he was denied a penalty during Leeds United's win over Southampton.
The Whites leading scorer helped set up Leeds' 17th win of the season when he netted his 16th goal of the campaign on 73 minutes, with Tyler Roberts sealing the victory in stoppage time.
But shortly before the hour mark Bamford feels he should have been awarded a penalty after he stumbled, but did not go down after a challenge from Alex McCartney in the Southampton box as he attempted to round the Saints 'keeper.
Nothing was awarded and Bamford believes he was punished for attempting to play on, rather than go down.
"I said to the referee, 'nowadays are we trying to encourage diving then?'," he said following the 2-0 win.
"Because if I go down it's 100 per cent a penalty, whether they check it or not, it's a penalty. So surely the fact that it's knocked me off balance but I've tried to stay on my feet, it should still be a penalty.
"Everyone's saying that modern day players are diving too much, going to ground too easy. But the fact is you've seen today that if you don't, you don't get anything for it. But the refs have got to decide do you want players to stay on your feet or do you want them to go down?"
Should Bamford have been awarded a penalty? Have your say in the comments below
Bamford was able to open the scoring shortly afterwards, but only after a VAR check, which got the 27-year-old worried.
"To be honest, when it went to VAR, I thought they were going to do me again," he added. "I was a little bit nervous to be honest. The ball skipped away from me as it bounced, I just tried to get my toe on it. I was a little bit fortunate he way it went in, but a goal is a goal."
Bamford will be hoping his latest goal will help his cause when it comes to Gareth Southgate's England squad for the upcoming Euro 2020 championship. The Three Lions boss will confirm his 26-man selection on Tuesday, with Bamford offering an honest answer when sked if he could have done much more to aid his case.
"Yeah, I could have scored more,2 he said. "Could always score more. We'll see what happens. It's not just about goals when it comes to playing international football, it's about everything else that you bring to the table.
"There's a lot of good English strikers in the set-up at the minute so I can't complain either way."
Leeds have one more match this season, when they host West Bromwich Albion at Elland Road in front of their fans on Sunday.
