Paul Heckingbottom has given his reaction to Preston North End’s draw with Leeds United and whether Ben Whiteman should’ve seen red after a first half challenge on Jayden Bogle.
PNE had looked as though they were on the way to beating Leeds at Deepdale for a second successive season until Dan James’ cross was steered into his own goal by Jack Whatmough.
The home side had been in front for almost the entirety of the game when Brad Potts’ effort somehow found its way past Illan Meslier, who will not want to see that back.
But the big talking point of the afternoon came just under 10 minutes before the break as already yellow carded Ben Whiteman went lunging into a challenge on Jayden Bogle.
However, referee John Busby somehow opted to keep his cards in his pocket and keep Whiteman on the field, much to the dismay of Daniel Farke, who was booked for his protestations.
Heckingbottom reacts to red card decision in PNE vs Leeds
Heckingbottom’s decision to take Whiteman off at half-time was a pretty telling indicator of how he felt about his captain not receiving his marching orders.
But the former Leeds boss was asked in his post-match press conference anyway, and he was pretty brutally honest about the incident.
Heckingbottom admitted he could ‘definitely’ understand why Leeds were so aggrieved by the decision not going their way, before then praising the Whites for fighting until the end.
He told Leeds Live: “I don’t feel as bad as the other draws. Leeds threw everything at us and we stood strong. Players put a lot of effort in. Played against a good side there. It was going to take a goal like that to beat us.
“Definitely [can understand why Leeds are upset Whiteman stayed on]. Only decision was waiting until half-time to do it. Had to make that change.
“Leeds are a good side. You know you have to suffer in moments. I have to credit them. Their mentality and they kept going. It took a lucky goal, regardless of their pressure. I was worried the ref was going to lose control at one point.”
Leeds undone by yet another poor call
While the refereeing decisions can not take the spotlight away from Leeds’ poor away form, that is now back-to-back matches where it has gone against them.
In Leeds’ 1-0 defeat at Blackburn Rovers, Tyrhys Dolan was somehow allowed to stay on the field with just under half-an-hour to play after a stoods up, shin high tackle on Junior Firpo.
However, considering Whiteman was already on a booking, this one was arguably even worse, at an even earlier point in the game.
Leeds piled a decent amount of pressure on in the second half and you can only help feeling had PNE been reduced to 10 men, they would have got the three points.
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