Ryan Lowe felt his Preston side were denied a clear penalty as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home by fellow play-off hopefuls Hull at Deepdale.
In a Sky Bet Championship game that did not help either side’s promotion ambitions, Lowe was adamant that his team should have been awarded a spot-kick early in the second half for a pull on Will Keane as he looked to pounce following Ryan Allsop’s save from Emil Riis.
It was not given, and while Preston had the better of the chances, they had to settle for just a point in their bid for a place in the top-six.
Lowe said: “I thought we deserved a penalty, a decision has gone against us that has probably not seen us take all three points. Unfortunately for us it hasn’t been given, but it’s a penalty.
“Will Keane has been pulled back and Keano’s been pulled right around, but maybe the referee is used to reffing in the Premier League…he’s used to someone speaking in his ear, stop and then decide what to do.
“I don’t know, but the fact of the matter is that 11 decisions have gone against us this season and three for us.
“It’s become a little bit of a concern, because if it goes into 14-15, then it’s costing us points.”
He added: “I thought we were excellent, with and without the ball. I think we kept their front three quiet, I thought our defenders were immense.
“There was only one team on the front foot trying to win the game of football and that was us.”
Ben Whiteman had a couple of early chances for Preston but did not overly trouble Allsop, while Freddie Woodman had to be alert in goal at the other end to deny Fabio Carvalho.
Preston threatened early in the second half, Andrew Hughes heading over and Whiteman seeing a shot deflected wide, before Riis’ attempt and the contentious follow-up.
At the other end, Jaden Philogene was somehow denied by Woodman while Allsop produced some late heroics to earn the visitors a point, to the delight of boss Liam Rosenior.
He said: “It was a hard-fought, physical, winter battle.
“I’m delighted with the players’ attitude, but I felt if we’d have had a little bit more calmness in our play, which is hard to do when you come away from home, then we would have come away with a win.
“I thought the players stood up really, really well to the challenge, but obviously I’m disappointed not to win the game.
“There’s a lot on the line, we have to remember Preston are in great form. You could sense in the stadium the energy of the team and what a big game it was for them to push up to us.
“I felt after the first 10 minutes we played our football and we controlled the game and looked like a real threat. But we just couldn’t get the goal and that’s a real shame.
“The game plan was to make it our game, we worked all week on trying to stop balls coming into our box, but then trying to control the game by making it our game.
“It’s a brave thing I’m asking the players to do. We made mistakes, but we just couldn’t get the goal our play deserved.”
Bellingham: Champions League triumph 'the best night of my life'
Jude Bellingham described becoming a Champions League winner as the best night of his life after helping Real Madrid down his former club Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium.
Madrid clinched a record-extending 15th European crown on Saturday, claiming a hard-fought 2-0 win over Dortmund, who spurned several clear opportunities in the first half.
Dani Carvajal headed in Toni Kroos' corner for the 74th-minute breakthrough, before an Ian Maatsen error allowed Bellingham to slip in Vinicius Junior for a late second.
At the age of 20 years and 338 days, Bellingham became the third-youngest player to start a Champions League final for Madrid, after Iker Casillas in 2000 (19 years, four days) and Raul in 1998 (20 years, 327 days).
He also became the third-youngest English player to do so with any team after Trent Alexander-Arnold in 2018 (19 years, 231 days) and Owen Hargreaves in 2001 (20 years, 123 days).
Speaking to TNT Sports immediately after the full-time whistle, Bellingham was lost for words to describe the feeling of becoming a European champion.
"I've always dreamed of playing in these games," he said. "You go through life and there are so many people saying you can't do things and days like today remind you why you do it.
"When it gets hard at times you start to wonder if it's all worth it. Nights like tonight make it all worth it.
"I was okay until I saw my Mum and Dad's faces. The nights they could have been home at seven o'clock but they were still out at eleven or twelve taking me to football.
"My little brother there who I am trying to be a role model for too... it's hard to put it into words. It's the best night of my life."
Ancelotti: Real Madrid's 15th European title was harder than expected
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti felt winning the European Cup for a record-extending 15th time on Saturday had been much more difficult than expected for the Spanish champions.
Los Blancos needed two late goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior to beat Germany's Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the Champions League final at Wembley.
"I never get used to it, because it was difficult, very difficult, more than expected," Ancelotti told Movistar Plus+.
"In the first half we were a bit lazy, we had losses and they [Dortmund] were able to play how they wanted, but in the second half we were better and more balanced, with fewer losses.
"This is a dream that continues. I don't know what is going to happen tonight, but we are not going to sleep!"
Ancelotti added to TNT Sports: "It seems a dream but it is reality. Really happy for sure. A final is always like this [with good and bad parts of the game].
"We were able to win, it was a fantastic season and we are really happy to be able to win the cup again."
Asked how Madrid are able to keep winning the Champions League, he replied: "It is the history and tradition of the club and of course the quality of the players.
"The club is a family, we work all together without problems and the atmosphere is really good in the dressing room.
"I need to thank the club and the players, no big egos, really humble, it was not difficult to manage the squad this season."
Carvajal also acknowledged Madrid had been fortunate to escape from a first half where Dortmund squandered a host of good goalscoring opportunities.
"After the first half we had, we didn't even deserve to go the changing room with a level score, but this is football and we are very, very happy," said defender Carvajal, who scored the first goal by heading in Toni Kroos’ corner.
For Dortmund, it was another Champions League final loss at Wembley, which also hosted their 2013 defeat by domestic rivals Bayern Munich.
"At the moment we are bitterly disappointed," said Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel. "Against Real you don’t get too many chances and they always become dangerous.
"We had our chances and should have done a bit more.
"We are still disappointed, but 100% it was a huge success to come here and play this game, so we are very proud."
Reus' Dortmund send-off ends in heartbreaking Champions League defeat
Borussia Dortmund's hopes of sending Marco Reus off with a Champions League title ended in heartbreak as they lost 2-0 to Real Madrid on Saturday.
After 12 years with his boyhood club, Reus announced the Wembley showpiece would be his final match for Dortmund.
But despite a dominant first-half performance, they could not beat the serial winners, who scored two late goals through Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior to win their 15th European crown.
Edin Terzic’s side were given just a 21.4 per cent chance of victory by the Opta supercomputer before kick-off, but they came out of the blocks quickly with the aim of flipping the script.
Dortmund’s expected goals (xG) figure of 1.68 in the opening period was the largest by a team in the first half of a Champions League final on record (since 2013-14), and was also the highest by an opponent against Madrid in the first half this term.
Their two big chances fell to Niclas Fullkrug and Karim Adeyemi, the former striking the post and the latter forcing a good save out of Thibaut Courtois, having earlier wasted a one-on-one chance with the Belgian goalkeeper.
The German team were solid in defence too, forcing Madrid into half-time without having a single shot on target – the first time that has happened to any team in a Champions League final since Tottenham versus Liverpool in 2019.
Julian Brandt looked to be key for the Black and Yellow, creating four chances, the most in a Champions League final since Luka Modric against Atletico Madrid in 2015-16 (seven), though that tally would be equalled by Toni Kroos in the second half.
Reus was brought on for his 424th and final BVB appearance in the 72nd minute, hoping to sign off in the perfect way, but it was another departing German that soon caught the eye.
Kroos, playing for Madrid for the last time ahead of his retirement, set up Carvajal for Madrid’s opener just two minutes later.
Gregor Kobel saved 46 of the 56 shots on target he faced this season in the competition, and he made three big stops to keep Dortmund in the contest at 1-0.
However, an Ian Maatsen mistake led to Madrid’s second, with Dortmund conceding in the final 15 minutes of a Champions League game for the first time this campaign as Jude Bellingham slipped in Vinicius to convert.
Dortmund have now only won one of their last five finals in major European competitions (3-1 versus Juventus in the 1997 Champions League), losing each of their last three in a row (against Feyenoord in 2002, Bayern Munich in 2013 and Madrid in 2024).
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