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“Appalling” – Paul Heckingbottom left fuming with flashpoint in Sunderland AFC v Preston match
Paul Heckingbottom has criticized the officiating following Preston North End’s draw with Sunderland on Tuesday night.
The match descended into confusion just before Romaine Mundle’s late equalizer for the hosts.
A series of substitutions and injuries, including a head knock for Ryan Porteous, led to Preston briefly having 12 players on the pitch, before the error was noticed and corrected before the game resumed.
Amid the chaos, Preston found themselves with just 10 players on the field when Mundle unleashed a stunning strike to level the score for Sunderland in the dying minutes.
Heckingbottom voiced his frustration over the situation, pointing out that Preston should have had more players on the pitch when Mundle scored.
He felt the officials mishandled the substitution process, especially given they had room to replace Brad Potts, who had suffered a hamstring injury.
“They scored when we had 10 men on the pitch. That’s the issue,” Heckingbottom said, according to the Sunderland Echo. “We had players out of position just to get that man on. Pottsy’s hurt his hamstring. The officials were poor as well.
Tom on the side told us we couldn’t make another sub, but we could have, as long as the ball wasn’t in play. It was absolute chaos, and we kept our cool, but the officiating was appalling.”
He continued, “We had already made our substitutions, but then Pottsy told us about his injury. I insisted we make another substitution. They were going to have us play with 10 men for the last 20 minutes.”
The draw means Preston are now six league games without a win, sitting 15th in the Championship table, ahead of the evening’s fixtures.
With the top six out of reach and relegation unlikely, the manager’s frustration at dropping points against Sunderland highlights his desire to finish the season strong and build momentum for next year.
Preston’s next match is a home clash against Portsmouth on March 15, with kick-off at 3pm.
As for Mundle’s goal, despite Heckingbottom’s criticism, it was an exceptional strike—one that would have been hard to stop even if Preston had 11 players on the field.
For Preston, conceding so late continued their winless streak, leaving them in a somewhat uncomfortable middle ground in the table.
However, the draw was even more disappointing for Sunderland, who missed an opportunity to close the gap to the top two with what should have been a winnable game.
The stoppage played to Sunderland’s advantage, allowing them to regroup and ultimately secure a point with Mundle’s brilliant goal.
