Paul Heckingbottom watched Milutin Osmajic play a leading role in Preston’s 3-0 FA Cup win over local rivals Burnley and then revealed he had considered leaving the Montenegrin out of the game amid an ongoing investigation into allegations of racist abuse.
Osmajic was a constant thorn in Burnley’s side, scoring Preston’s second of the afternoon and threatening more as the Clarets’ 23-game unbeaten run came to an emphatic halt, with Robbie Brady and Will Keane getting the other goals.
The game came only two weeks after the two sides played out a goalless draw at Deepdale that ended with Burnley midfielder Hannibal Mejbri accusing Osmajic of using racist language, an allegation Osmajic denied and which remains the subject of an FA investigation.
Where Scott Parker chose to leave Hannibal out of this game as a result, Osmajic played a leading role, and delighted in celebrating his goal in front of the Burnley fans who had booed him from before kick-off, when Burnley’s players refused to shake his hand during the pre-match ceremonies.
Asked if he had considered leaving Osmajic out, Heckingbottom said: “If he wouldn’t have been up for it, yeah. But he was fine, he wanted to be involved. We discussed possible things that were going to be said, but he wanted to play.
“It was, could he be professional enough to give us a performance? That was it, that’s what the conversation was about.
“That issue is getting dealt with but what I can’t do is let that impact the rest of the players and their chances of progressing in the FA Cup. If I felt or he felt he couldn’t be professional enough, he wouldn’t have been involved.”
While Osmajic celebrated his goal by cupping his ears in front of the Burnley fans, after his 31st minute free-kick Brady kept things to a minimum against the club he spent four years at – but he still revelled in his first club goal in over a year.
“It felt great inside but I was at Burnley for a long time, I really enjoyed my time there,” Brady said. “It was a bit of respect.”
It was a win that puts Preston, two-time FA Cup winners, into the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time since 1966.
“I didn’t realise that record until this week and it is a big deal for the club,” Heckingbottom added. “I found it hard to believe for a club with this history and the teams Preston have had over the years.”
While Preston look forward to Sunday’s draw, Burnley must quickly regroup before Tuesday’s trip to Cardiff in the Championship, with only one mission remaining – a final push in the promotion race.
“I thought we fell short in the basics and the foundation of the game,” Parker said. “We were second-best to a lot of things really. I thought before their goal it was nip and tuck.
“The goal comes from nowhere, a great strike, and after that we just didn’t get going and we couldn’t build any sort of momentum.
“Definitely it feels like a missed opportunity because we came into the tie wanting to win the game and go through, but we didn’t deserve to get anything from today’s game.
“We have one focus now. We’re not in any of these competitions anymore. There’s one focus, 12 games left. Let’s go and put our foot straight down to the floor, try and grind out as many points as we can to get us over the line.”
Ian Holloway hopes Swindon and Gillingham can put their bad blood behind them after their feisty 1-1 draw.There is an old storied rivalry between the two clubs and there were handbags late on, which resulted in Joe Gbode’s late sending off.Gbode put the hosts in front before Will Wright levelled with a brilliant free-kick six minutes later.Gillingham ended the game with nine men after Gbode ...

Steve Bruce was left fuming after “the worst penalty decision I’ve seen in a long time” denied the Blackpool boss what could have been a winning return to former club Wigan as an entertaining game ended 1-1.Wigan led from the fourth minute, when Jon Mellish’s left-wing delivery somehow crept in at the near post past an embarrassed Harry Tyrer in the Blackpool goal.However, ...

Bromley boss Andy Woodman hailed his players’ never-say-die attitude after their thrilling 3-3 draw at Barrow.The visitors came from behind three times as Michael Cheek, Nicke Kabamba – his first for the club – and Omar Sowunmi’s stoppage-time leveller cancelled out Ben Whitfield’s penalty and efforts from Isaac Fletcher and Elliot Newby.“It was an end-of-season...

Burton boss Gary Bowyer remains grounded as his side moved to the brink of League One safety and relegated Cambridge with a last gasp 2-1 victory.Dylan Williams bagged his first league goal in added on time to push the Brewers to within a point of safety although their superior goal difference over Crawley and Bristol Rovers makes them overwhelming favourites to survive.“It was a win that sy...

Wolves boss Vitor Pereira said “confidence and happiness” was powering his side’s stunning form after seeing them brush aside relegated Leicester to claim a sixth successive Premier League win.Matheus Cunha opened the scoring just after the half-hour mark when he turned in Rayan Ait-Nouri’s cross for his 15th goal of the campaign.The Brazilian turned from scorer to creator ...

Steven Schumacher knows his Bolton side need to be more ruthless next year.The former Plymouth boss took charge of the Trotters back in January.He was pleased with ending a four-game losing streak but frustrated that a number of chances were spurned during his side’s 1-1 draw with Peterborough.Malik Mothersille broke the deadlock with a penalty before Chris Forino levelled.“You’v...

Chesterfield assistant manager Danny Webb was delighted that his side kept their League Two play-off hopes alive with a 4-1 home victory over relegated Morecambe.Will Grigg, Ash Palmer, Michael Olakigbe and Tom Naylor were on target for the hosts, while Jordan Slew replied for Morecambe.He said: “We did what we needed to do. When they equalise you think, ‘oh, this will be a really frus...

Crawley boss Scott Lindsey did not concede that their fight against relegation was over after a comfortable 3-0 home win over Northampton left them with only the slimmest of survival chances.Burton hold a healthy goal difference advantage of 12 over Crawley following their 2-1 home win over Cambridge, but Lindsey is hoping the Brewers will come badly unstuck at home to Wigan on Tuesday before los...

John Eustace revealed he was oblivious that Derby had dropped into the Sky Bet Championship drop zone before a 1-0 win at Hull propelled them out of the bottom three.Luton’s last-gasp victory over Coventry in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off meant the Rams fell into the final relegation place and it seemed they might stay there after creating little at the MKM Stadium.But Nat Phillips hea...

West Ham boss Graham Potter was in “too much pain to talk about positives” as he struggled to contain his emotions after being left “devastated” by a dramatic late collapse at former club Brighton.The lowly Hammers were on course for a first Premier League win in seven games when second-half goals from Mohammed Kudus and Tomas Soucek overturned Yasin Ayari’s eye-catch...



- 1 Transfer news & rumours LIVE
- 2 Man Utd & Man City join PSG in race for Akliouche
- 3 We always have a chance – Miron Muslic bullish as Plymouth boost survival hopes
- 4 Tottenham to compete with Man City for defender
- 5 Transfer news & rumours LIVE
- 6 Daily Laugh - Totttenham 1-2 N Forest
- 7 Conor Gallagher's girlfriend dazzles on red carpet as stars gather in Madrid
- 8 Liverpool join race to sign attacker Jeremy Monga
- 9 Ancelotti in Brazil job talks
- 10 Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta unsure if Mikel Merino will be fit enough for PSG game