Paul Heckingbottom: Late Middlesbrough goal given without goal-line technology

Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom wants to see proof Middlesbrough’s last-gasp equaliser crossed the line after revealing the goal-line technology system at Deepdale had to be switched off before the match due to technical issues.

Substitute Sontje Hansen seemed to squeeze the ball in in the second minute of stoppage time after pinball in the Preston area to earn the visitors a 2-2 Sky Bet Championship draw.

Lewis Dobbin had put Heckingbottom’s men ahead with a sublime solo effort early on before Boro got a deserved 72nd-minute equaliser through Matt Targett.

Jordan Storey thought he had won it for Preston with a glancing header in the 88th minute before Hansen’s late intervention.

The Dutchman’s goal was close to being cleared off the line and was awarded by the officials without the aid of technology to confirm the ball had crossed it.

Heckingbottom said: “We knew before the game we didn’t have it (goal-line technology). It’s just Sod’s law that decides the game.

“I’m hoping someone shows me a photo of it crossing the line to make me feel better, because I can’t see at the minute how it crossed the line.

“The linesman gives it and it’s old fashioned, but I’ve just got no trust in the officials at the minute because they try and give everything, don’t they?

“They try to give fouls when there’s nothing there to be seen, so I’m hoping I get some video footage that makes me sleep better.”

On the game, he added: “If it had been the same performance levels, but it had been us scoring the late equaliser, it would be us jumping through hoops. We’d be delighted. I think we have to reflect more on the overall game and we’re really pleased with it.

“It was an entertaining game with both teams going for it which made for the ending and the spectacle. Good performance against a good side.”

Rob Edwards praised the character of his Middlesbrough team after they hit back twice to snatch a hard-earned point.

Edwards, who saw his side fail to win for the first time in the Championship this season, said: “We didn’t go flat. We went straight back on the front foot after conceding and went after the equaliser which we got and then we tried to win the game which we weren’t able to do.

“If you aren’t able to win it, then you can’t lose it. I loved the reaction from the team both times after going behind. We didn’t show disappointment. We got on with it.

“We knew it was going to happen at some stage. It’s happened now and we’ve come back a couple of times and got something out of the game at a difficult place to go.”

Edwards brought off Kaly Sene for David Strelec at the interval and said he will use early substitutions more often over the course of the season.

“I will change things early if I need to,” Edwards said. “We’ve got a squad where we can do that. The game is 97 or 98 minutes long so if we have to go early with the sub, it’s never personal, it’s all about the team.

“It’s about trying to win a game of football. That’s it. It’ll happen again to someone else later down the line.”