OWEN Coyle has joined calls urging football’s authorities to introduce video technology amid growing concerns that referees are missing crucial decisions.

The Clarets manager believes the time is right to embrace goal-line technology where television evidence can highlight whether the ball has crossed the line.

However, on assessing Herman Hriedarsson’s fall to land Portsmouth a penalty in Burnley’s 2-0 defeat at Fratton Park on Saturday, Coyle has stopped short of appealing for technology to determine major decisions in open play.

Referee Phil Dowd was criticised for pointing to the spot when Hriedarsson went down in the penalty box under no contact from Wade Elliott.

The Icelandic defender’s actions, falling to the ground after bursting past Elliott, won Avram Grant’s side a penalty, although Brian Jensen saved the spot-kick from Aruna Dindane.

That Dowd interpreted Hreidarsson’s fall as a foul again raises questions over whether technology can be implemented to decide important decisions in and around the box.

The debate was stirred up last month after Liverpool striker David Ngog’s controversial dive won his side a spot-kick against Birmingham.

But while Coyle is a staunch support of goal-line technology, he has mixed feelings over the use of technology in general, believing that it would disrupt football’s free-flowing nature.

Upon using video evidence to decide on the Hreidarsson challenge, he said: “I think this penalty will be easy for us to decide on.

“But there will be times that we’ll look at penalties and you and I might watch it four or five times and have a different opinion on it.

“How long do you wait before someone makes a decision? And even then it might be a wrong one.

“I’m certainly not for every contentious decision that happens because we’ve got the best game in the world and we’ve got it because it’s fast and free-flowing.

“But goal-line technology is certainly black and white.

"If the ball crosses the line it’s a goal, if it doesn’t it’s not.”

While Dowd’s penalty decision did not ultimately prove costly, the Clarets were punished for a lack of concentration in the second-half at Fratton Park.

Burnley are now without a win from their eight away Premier League outings, but Coyle insists his club will not lose heart as they continue to learn the harshest of lessons in England’s top flight.

“We won't lose confidence because we know we’re good enough to have won that game,” said the Burnley boss.

“We have to give balance to it and recognise this is a team that’s come up from the Championship without any seasoned Premier League players within that group. So they’re learning and evolving.

“It’s shown the harsh reality that if you give up or make a poor decision in the wrong area, you switch off in terms of your focus and concentration, then undoubtedly you'll be punished at this level because of the quality you face.

“That’s something we’re all learning and hopefully the players will pick up on that quickly.”