Sky Sports pundit hits out at Preston North End star after Georginio Rutter incident v Leeds United
Lee Hendrie hit out at Preston North End midfielder Ali McCann for his “naughty” challenge on Leeds United forward Georginio Rutter.
McCann was shown a yellow card during the first half of Tuesday’s (26 December) contest at Deepdale for the heavy tackle.
Hendrie, commentating on the game for Sky Sports [26 December, 13:01pm], was not impressed by what he saw from the Northern Irishman.
“It was naughty from Ali McCann,” Hendrie said. “It was absolutely brilliant from Georginio Rutter.”
Regular occurrence
McCann’s challenge was wild to say the least, but a yellow card was the right decision from referee Josh Smith. The Preston player lunged in on Rutter and did not come away with the ball.
Thanks to his impressive hold-up play, Rutter has become accustomed to taking hits from oppositions players, with this the latest such example.
It was clear that Preston’s players were told to get right on top of their opponents in the first half of the sold-out clash at Deepdale, but McCann almost took that literally.
As frustrating as it is for Rutter to be taken out, the 21-year-old knows he is winning the battle when opposition players resort to these tactics.
Referees must ensure they continue to protect him, though, by showing those guilty of terrible tackles a yellow – or indeed red – card.
In other Leeds United news, a first-team player was axed from the squad to face Preston.