MATT HEATH reckons he was the victim of a harsh penalty verdict on his rollercoaster of a debut.

But Albion’s on-loan defender admits there is lots to work on ahead of tomorrow’s League One visit from Southend.

Heath, pictured, forced Albion ahead in their 2-1 defeat at Leyton Orient on Saturday but was then pulled up for the 45th-minute penalty which turned the game.

He said: “I thought it was a little bit of a soft penalty.

“I kind of touched their guy in the chest but he fell over a little bit theatrically.

“I don’t know why but it just felt like the referee was against us for quite a lot of the game so I’d say it was a harsh decision.

“I was bitterly disappointed. We could have been going in one up and that’s a decent score so hopefully on Tuesday we will get a bit of luck.”

Heath, who has come south for a month from Southend’s cross-county rivals Colchester, relived the moments when he scored and then forced Orient keeper Jimmy Jones into a soaring second-half save.

He joked: “Sniffer in the box, wasn’t I? I think the goal came off my knee in the end and just bobbled in but you’ll take that.

“We had a few chances in the second half especially and maybe we didn’t work the keeper as often as we could have.

“He pulled off a good save from me but it was a good height for him.

“If I had headed it a bit lower maybe it would have nestled in but give him credit.”

Heath added: “Playing against a team who were down there as well we’d have probably taken a draw, thinking about it now, so they didn't get that little bit further away.

“It’s back to drawing board now and pick up as many points as we can.”