Preston boss Graham Westley spoke to his club's official website after his side's 1-1 League One draw against Carlisle at Deepdale, Westley disappointed with the performance of the match officials:
“It was always going to be a tough game out there, it was not made easier by decisions. I think we have obviously got a problem, we talk about the minutes since we were given a penalty, it seems in games that decisions just aren’t going our way. We need to start looking I think into the reasons for that. I don’t know why the foul wasn’t given on Jack (King) before the penalty, I don’t know why our goal wasn’t given when Scott Laird’s corner went into the back of the net.
“I can’t get to the bottom of why these things are going against us. If we get that early goal they have got to come out and break their normal game. They are a difficult side away from home, their results on the road have been strong, we knew that an experienced side that has nearly got in the play-offs last year were going to be a tough nut to crack. They proved to be so, especially once the penalty was given against us and they went 1-0 up.
“It was always going to be an uphill struggle, they stifled us, they frustrated the game, tried to frustrate the ground and the crowd, who were absolutely outstanding for the players. I think the support the players were given, in the end probably the quality of the support has driven the players to go and get the last ditch equaliser. Throughout the first and the second halves the noise on the terraces was incredible, brilliant credit to them, brilliant credit to them.
“But, I think the words I said to the lads in there were that in the end patience and perseverance, because they did show good patience, we did have to go direct a little bit and mix our game up but we showed good patience on the ball as well. One or two moments when I found myself sort of trying to ask the crowd to stay with the players as Lee Holmes knocked a ball backwards, and I thought retained good possession under pressure. I think the 90 minutes was a frustrating 90 minutes but credit to the players for the perseverance that they did show."
“It is astounding how the goal from the corner wasn’t given, from the dugout I had in my mind given the goal. I could see that the ball was in the back of the net, or let’s put it another way, far enough over the line for the goal to be given. I could see from the dugout so how officials haven’t seen it I just don’t know. It is the sort of situation, you could even see from the reaction of the Carlisle players that the ball was in, the reaction from our players that the ball was in, the reaction from the Carlisle crowd that the ball was in.
“There were so many indicators that it was a goal and tight games get won at the margins, there is no reason for us to expect that we were going to go and put five past them. We might have had to win it 1-0 tonight and we might have had to be the side that was very professional after getting an early goal just to make sure we conceded nothing and win the game. But, as I say, it is a catalogue of decisions that seem to go against us, I don’t know what it is, I mean we know from earlier in the season that there are briefings of referees.
“I don’t understand these briefings of referees, I don’t understand what they are all about, I don’t understand why referees need to be briefed going into a game. I don’t understand what that is all about, referee the game, turn up, referee the game, see what you see, give the decisions that you see, what do you need a briefing for going into the situation?
“But, whatever it is I have to say that what is it, 2,500 minutes since we had a penalty, (Akpo) Sodje tonight going into the penalty box, same penalty box their penalty was given, he has handballed it apparently. I mean I saw their goalkeeper (Adam Collin) motion towards him, I saw their goalkeeper make contact with him. If he did handball it he handballed it because he was under pressure from their goalkeeper."
“So, I don’t understand how these decisions are being given, and it wasn’t just the big decisions tonight, it was little decisions all over the park all night. The consistency of yellow cards, I look at the boy in midfield for them (Brad Potts) who made the early sliding tackle and hit our boy, I mean I thought it was a dangerous tackle. Then I look at Chris Robertson and Paul Huntington both getting yellow cards for next to nothing by comparison, and what Hunty got a yellow card for I don’t know, he had just been fouled hadn’t he?
“So, all over the pitch the decisions are ones that are not going our way, sometimes you have just got to keep your lips shut and on other occasions you think that enough is enough. We have got to look at this, we have got to get into it and we have got to try to understand what is going on. It is not to take away from a poor first-half performance from us I think, we didn’t work the ball from the back as we wanted to, we didn’t get our full-backs high enough up the pitch, we didn’t put them under enough pressure and ask them enough questions through midfield.
“I thought we spent too much of our time with our back to their goal passing the ball backwards and not really taking any responsibility. I think all of that but nonetheless we stayed in the game and in the second-half we upped the ante and we played well enough against that side to win the second-half 1-0 with the late goal. Credit to Graham Cummins, when he went on he played with purpose. I started him out on the right-hand side, he went out there and it is not natural to him but he showed a drive and a determination to take the ball forward.
“He held the ball up well and when I moved him into the middle he did what good forwards do, he got across his marker, attacked a cross and put it in the back of the net. So, credit to him, he has had to be patient, he scored a couple of goals in reserve games, he has been strong on the training ground putting his extra work in. Just like Chris Robertson, he has worked his way back onto the field and he has made a difference tonight.”