Preston North End boss fumes at referee and makes red card claim in verdict on Sunderland draw

Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom said his side deserved to beat Sunderland on Wednesday night and insisted Chris Mepham should have seen red in the opening stages of the game.

Mepham was shown a yellow card for a challenge on Sam Greenwood, with the referee appearing to rule that he had not denied a clear goalscoring opportunity. Heckingbottom contested that decision and blasted the general standard of officiating across the division.

He said he was pleased with the performance of his side but urged his players to be more ruthless in front of goal.

"That's been our performance level,” Heckingbottom told Sky Sports.

“We had the better chances, I think we were the better team overall. Another ref decision that absolutely ruins us, that's five in eight games. That's been our story. It's frustrating, the only thing we've done wrong is not taken our chances. We have a miskick early on that could have been a tap in, miss two really good headers, we could have been really comfortable in the game.

"It's a red card. When he let it go we were unsure but when he's given the foul, I think it's Trai Hume's [sic] tackle on the edge of the box, he's last man. Sam's next touch is a shot. That's just the way it's going at the minute.

"We knew coming in that we were a bit shot shy, not creating too much and we've changed that - the lads deserve credit for that. We're outperformed the XG of our opponents for the last few games but we're not getting the points from it, and the other frustrating thing is that we're on a run of game changing decisions against us rather than for us. The standards are appalling at the moment and I'm just really, really worried with where the game is going. I think Kaine Kesler-Hayden gave a free kick away in the second half for jumping too high, it's crazy the way the game is going."