Blackburn midfielder Morten Gamst Pedersen has denied being a cheat after falling in the penalty area against Arsenal on the weekend.

The Norway international went down with no other player in the tackling vicinity and was given a caution for a dive by referee Phil Dowd but denies anything untoward by his actions.

"It wasn't a penalty and that's not what I was after," he told Norway's Nettavisen.

"If you see the pictures, you can see that my legs hit each other and I fall. The heel hits the leg, and I fall face down.

"There were many thoughts that went through my head, then and there. I was frustrated and maybe waved a bit with my arms.

"But it was definitely not a penalty, and I told that to Sagna later as well.

"The referee came up to me straight afterwards, and I am counting on that he would have given me a card if he had thought that I was trying to dive.

"As I said, I wasn't trying to cheat (to win) a penalty. And it was correct that I didn't get one."