“Unacceptable”- FURIOUS Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom reacts to the major controversy in Sunderland draw.
Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom has shared his thoughts on the chaotic moments before Romaine Mundle scored Sunderland’s equaliser on Tuesday night, describing the officiating as “appalling.”
Preston were 1-0 up, courtesy of an Emil Riis goal, when a series of delays began. Ryan Porteous suffered a head injury but quickly recovered, only to be ordered off for further checks by the referee. As play resumed, Kaine Kesler-Hayden went down with an injury, resulting in a substitution after a lengthy pause. Shortly after, Brad Potts pulled up with a hamstring issue, causing yet another stoppage.
This being Preston’s third substitution, they were unable to make another unless Potts was replaced before the match resumed. Amidst the confusion, Jayden Meghoma had not fully left the field, meaning Preston were set to restart the game with 12 players. Once that was corrected, the match resumed, with Mundle scoring a stunning goal before Porteous could re-enter the pitch.
Heckingbottom commented: “They scored when we had ten men on the field, didn’t they? That’s the issue. We had players out of position just to get that man back on. Pottsy’s injured with a hamstring. The officials were poor too. Tom on the sidelines told us we couldn’t make another substitution, but we could until the ball was back in play. That’s another reason why it took so long—he kept saying we couldn’t sub. It was absolute chaos, and I thought we kept our cool. With officiating like that, it was appalling.
“We’d already made our subs and were considering Ched [Evans], but then Pottsy told us about his hamstring. That was when I insisted on making another change. Otherwise, they would have made us play with ten men for the final twenty minutes. They wouldn’t accept the card or the board, and it almost caused another delay before the ball went back in play.”
On his team’s performance in the 1-1 draw, Heckingbottom expressed satisfaction but also lamented their missed opportunities.
“I’ve said it before, we’ve been consistent in our performances, but we haven’t always been consistent in turning those performances into three points. That’s been the story of our season—fantastic consistency, but not enough clinical finishing or quality in key moments to win games. That said, I can’t fault the performance.
“Emil showed great mentality and positivity, continuing to get into the right positions even when things weren’t going for him. It was a fantastic goal. He’s much better when he plays instinctively. We played well all over the pitch; not many teams come here and dominate possession like we did.
“You have to step back and see the bigger picture. As long as the effort is there, we’re not going to criticise. We can’t go out and spend millions to match some of the other teams, so my expectation of the players is to give their best.
“Coming here and performing like we did against a good team is not easy. Not many teams can do that. It’s all about effort, playing for the team, and executing tactics well. But we need to focus on the finer details if we want to compete with teams that have qualities we don’t possess.”
