Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Sunderland drew 1-1 with Preston North End on Tuesday night in a game that became engulfed in a timewasting controversy
Paul Heckingbottom says Brad Potts will miss Preston North End's clash with Portsmouth this weekend and defended his team from criticisms of timewasting on Tuesday night's clash with Sunderland.
Potts was at the centre of a bizarre passage of play at the Stadium of Light, in which the game was stopped for a number of minutes as Preston eventually made three substitutions. The delay was sparked by the game being paused with Ryan Porteous down with a head injury, quickly springing to his feet shortly after. The referee sent him to the sideline for checks, at which point Kaine Kesler-Hayden went down. After he was substituted off, Brad Potts then signalled for a substitution. Meanwhile, Brentford loanee Jayden Meghoma had not actually left the pitch, meaning Preston briefly has 12 players on the pitch.
Hide Ad
In the immediate aftermath of the game restarting, Romaine Mundle scored Sunderland's equaliser with Porteous still on the sidelines.
At the time Heckingbottom said the delay was down to the officials stating that Potts could not come off as Preston had used all three of their allotted substitute breaks. The Preston boss argued that as the ball had no re-entered play, this wasn't the case. And at his pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend's game, he has opened up further on the reasons behind his changes.
“Yeah, Pottsy felt his hamstring - did it sprinting - and obviously, he was aware that was our last change,” said Heckingbottom on Thursday afternoon.
"So then that's when he flagged it up and Kaine [Kesler-Hayden] had already left the pitch. He's going to be missing at the weekend. I don't know how long it will be.
Hide Ad
“Everyone's saying we were time-wasting... why would I take the only two people who can play right-wing back off? If Kaine hadn't have left the pitch, we'd have probably left him on. We took him off because he's got a tight hamstring at the minute; he's getting treatment for it and we're managing him through it.
“He was starting to cramp up but he was the first board that the linesmen had looked at. Pottsy’s then gone and said: ‘I've done my hamstring, I'm sure I have’. So we had to make that other change. He's got some damage there. The good thing is we've got the international break now to get him right."
Sunderland head coach Régis Le Bris delivers his view on the controversy
Speaking immediately after the game, Sunderland boss Régis Le Bris said he felt the controversy probably benefited the team as they battled back to rescue a point.
"It was a strange situation, a first for me! It's difficult to play against 12! But finally it helped us to react I think. After this situation we reacted well with a high level of energy, and we finished the game with a good dynamic."
Your next Sunderland read: Sunderland boss reveals his message for Wilson Isidor as 'new' striker situation develops