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.”
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