The Belgium international's controversial sending off paved the way for the Polish champions to secure their first Group K points, with David Biton striking the all-important goal in a 1-0 win at Stadion Miejski.

The incident occurred when an innocuous passage of play flared up, with Dembele pushing over Gervasio Nunez after he caught him on the back of the ankle.

The Argentinian midfielder went down clutching his face despite being pushed at shoulder height, leading referee Martin Hansson to hand the Belgium international a straight red card.

"You could say it was a frustrating evening," Jol said after the match. "Before the sending off I think we were in control.

"The pace was good, possession play was good and I was very satisfied.

"Then we got a straight red card and that makes it difficult for any team.

"After that they had more confidence, of course, because they played with 11 players and it was an awful night for us.

"Even after that we should have had a couple of decisions. You can't say anything about the referee, bad or good."

Hansson has been in the spotlight before after famously missing Thierry Henry's handball during France's World Cup play-off victory against the Republic of Ireland.

Jol's sense of injustice in Poland was strengthened by the Swedish referee's failure to send off Ivica Iliev in the opening minutes and decision not to give Osman Chavez a second booking sooner, as well as the Dembele incident.

"Referees make decision but I would say that in the first minute one of my players was kicked and it should have been a red card," he added.

"Okay, he didn't give it. There were three other fouls but we didn't complain.

"We are an English team, we stood up and got on with the game.

"But it was disappointing in the second half. Pajtim Kasami had his shirt pulled and it should have been [Chavez's] second yellow card but he didn't do it. It was probably the big difference tonight.

"Of course we would never complain about the red card but it was a push on the shoulder.

"After being kicked. He made a meal of it."

Dembele receives an automatic one-match ban for his straight red card, meaning he will miss the rematch with Wisla on November 3.

Target man Orlando Sa could also be a doubt for the clash after he hobbled off with what looked to be a hamstring injury in the second half.

"It could be a real problem," Jol said of the injury. "It could be weeks [he is out for]."

While Jol was left disappointed by the evening's proceedings, fellow Dutchman and Wisla Krakow manager Robert Maaskant was more philosophical.

Asked whether Nunez had play acted after Dembele's push, he smiled and after a brief pause said: "[Jol] probably just has to look back at the situation.

"I don't think you're supposed to hit players on the pitch.

"We will never know [whether the red card changed the course of the match].

"I still believe Fulham have a better squad than what we have, for example just look at their budget.

"But before the red card we created chances. We played very compact and I think we did a great job.

"We will never know [what swung it]. We were the better team today but of course we have to see what happens when we go to London."