11 big decisions to go against Preston North End - from shocking Bristol City moment to Burnley fume

Once the 2024/25 campaign concludes the primary focus must be on where Preston North End can improve moving forwards.

The Lilywhites occupy 14th spot in the Championship with six games to play. They are on course for another mid-table finish in the division, with manager Paul Heckingbottom having steadied the ship after a chaotic start to the season - but regular wins have clearly been come to hard by.

It is in the final third where Preston need to make the greatest strides, if they are to push towards the top of the league. Of course, there have also been moments out of North End’s control this season - some of which have come in Lancashire derbies.

Prior to the FA Cup quarter-final against Aston Villa, PNE CEO Peter Ridsdale told BBC 5 Live: “We’ve drawn 17 (now 18) games this season, which is far too many,. Of those 17 games, there is something called a Key Match Incidents panel.

“I think we have got the highest number of mistakes made against us that would’ve cost us points. If you are drawing those games, it doesn’t take a lot to turn them into wins. If half of those had been wins, we’d be in the play-offs now. We’ve got a manager who I have been so impressed with.”

Every club in the division will have a handful of decisions they can look back on at this stage of the season, and wonder where they’d be had those calls gone their way. Some of PNE’s have been particularly frustrating... we recall them below.

Burnley (A)

One that sticks in the mind to this day. Admittedly, it was early in the match but PNE were excellent in the first half of derby day at Turf Moor. And they executed a free-kick routine to perfection, with Emil Riis smashing the ball into the bottom left corner of the net - only for it to wrongly be ruled offside. Replays showed the Dane was comfortably onside.

On punditry duty for Sky Sports that day was ex-PNE boss Alex Neil, who said: "Hecky has discussed how difficult goals have been to come by for Preston, first and foremost,. The biggest difficulty you've got is that it's a dead ball, so the linesman is not having to run. He is static, looking straight across the line as it's getting taken and for me, it's a really, really poor decision, because Preston should be leading."

Sunderland (H)

Another goalless draw for Preston against one of the promotion contenders, back in November. But a moment of contention came in the first half once again. Leeds United loan man Sam Greenwood was slipped through by Emil Riis and Black Cats defender Chris Mepham brought him down. The centre-back got away with a yellow card; post-match Heckingbottom pulled no punches on refereeing standards.

Former PNE striker Jermaine Beckford said: "On the half way line, he is looking and all he sees is Sam Greenwood clean in on goal and he gets taken out. From that perspective, it is a straight red card. I am all in favour of the attacking players buying every opportunity available. I think, if he gets sent off, nobody would have anything negative to say about it. If he doesn't and gets booked, again you can see that argument.”

Millwall (A)

Not a day that warranted much frustration at decisions from the officials, given how poor PNE performed at The Den. But, Romaine Esse and Macauley Langstaff both appeared to be offside for goals two and three. In both instances the flag stayed down.

Bristol City (H)

Again, the Robins were the better side on the afternoon - one of the best teams to come to Deepdale, albeit North End were far from at their best. The way Liam Manning’s team took the lead in Lancashire was scandalous though. Yu Hirakawa patted the ball past Freddie Woodman with his hand before slotting into the empty net. Goal given.

“Yeah, listen, we will get another apology this week,” said Heckingbottom post-match. “We had two apologies for two bad decisions at Millwall. We had an apology for a decision at Burnley and we will get another one for that, I am sure. And, they will get more games to go and referee. There is nothing we can do about it. It’s diabolical, unacceptable and we keep getting the wrong end of them. Hopefully, it evens itself out.”

QPR (A)

Another disappointing display from Preston and a result - 2-1 to the hosts - they could have few complaints with. Had Liam Lindsay not been shown a second yellow card on the day, however, PNE may well have come away from the capital with a fortunate, but hard earned, point. The number six leaving the field left North End badly exposed and the late winning goal had a sense of inevitability about it.

“I thought QPR were the better team - helped by the officials all game, but they were the better team,” reflected PNE’s boss. “It would’ve been a big point for us, but I think they deserved the win. It is not a sending off. It has totally killed us, because we had all our attacking players on the pitch. We have players on who are not comfortable defending the box and lots of players out of positions for us, then.”

Blackburn Rovers (A)

Two bitter pills to swallow at Ewood Park. In a low quality Lancashire derby, Rovers led 2-0 and looked well on course for victory. North End pulled one back late on though via Brad Potts and then should’ve been given the chance to equalise from the penalty spot, when he was elbowed in the face. There was controversy, too, around the penalty given to Blackburn. The KMI panel voted in PNE’s favour on both counts.

Sky Sports pundit Chris Sutton said: "I think if you award the Blackburn one - which I thought was a penalty - then you have to award this. Makhtar Gueye doesn't get any of the ball and Potts wins the knock down. It hits him on the arm as well; it could've been two penalties. Gueye doesn't get the ball, Potts does and I think if that's outside the box then the referee would award a foul. So, it should've been a penalty for Preston."

Sheffield United (A)

A trip to face the Blades always resembled a difficult task and Chris Wilder’s men were better on the day. North End, though, had some moments in the match and were edged 1-0 in the end. With the deadlock unbroken in the first half, Potts saw a strong case for a penalty ignored. The number 44 arrived on to a cross and appeared to be clattered down by Sheffield United midfielder Vinicius Souza.

Heckingbottom said: “Yeah, it's a penalty, 100%. Listen, I think, as good as Sheffield United were, I think to come here against a good side.. one, you've got to play well. Two, you've got to take your moments. Then three, you've got to have the big decisions going your way. After the first 30 minutes we played well. We didn't take our moments and we didn't have the big decisions.”

Derby County (A)

Similar to Millwall, this wasn’t a match where officiating was the greatest disappointment. PNE were really poor at Pride Park and conceded two shocking goals. At nil-nil, however, an offside wrongly against them and Milutin Osmajic would’ve been in for a golden chance. Towards the closing stages, a stonewall penalty was then not given after Nat Phillips hacked down Emil Riis.

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