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“Did Sunderland deserve the 1-1 draw against Preston? Furious Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom delivered BLUNT Verdict on Sunderland STUNNING win over Preston labeling the officiating “appalling” amid justice must be served
Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom has voiced his frustration over the chaotic events leading up to Romaine Mundle’s equaliser for Sunderland on Tuesday night, slamming the officiating as “appalling.”
Preston had a 1-0 lead, thanks to Emil Riis’ goal, when a series of delays interrupted the flow of the game. Ryan Porteous sustained a head injury but recovered quickly, only to be sent off for further checks by the referee.
As play resumed, Kaine Kesler-Hayden went down with an injury, leading to a substitution after a long pause. Soon after, Brad Potts suffered a hamstring issue, causing yet another delay.
Since this was Preston’s third substitution, they would not be allowed to make another unless Potts was replaced before the game restarted.
Amid the confusion, Jayden Meghoma had not fully left the field, which meant Preston were about to resume the game with 12 players.
Once this issue was corrected, the match resumed, with Mundle scoring a brilliant goal before Porteous could return to the pitch.
Heckingbottom reflected: “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 it took so long—he kept saying we couldn’t sub. It was complete chaos, and I thought we kept our cool. With officiating like that, it was appalling.
“We had already made our subs and were thinking about Ched [Evans], but then Pottsy told us about his hamstring.
That’s when I insisted we make another change. Otherwise, they would have made us play with ten men for the final twenty minutes.
They didn’t accept the card or the board, and it almost caused another delay before the game could restart.”
Regarding his team’s performance in the 1-1 draw, Heckingbottom expressed satisfaction but noted missed opportunities.
“I’ve said this before, we’ve been consistent in our performances, but we haven’t been consistent in converting those into three points.
That’s been the story of our season—great consistency, but we’ve lacked the clinical finishing or quality at key moments to win games. That said, I can’t fault the performance.
“Emil showed excellent mentality and positivity, continuing to get into good positions even when things weren’t going for him.
It was a superb goal. He’s much better when he’s playing instinctively. We were good all over the pitch; not many teams come here and dominate possession like we did.
“You have to step back and look at the bigger picture. As long as the effort is there, we won’t 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 no small feat. 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.”
