Former referee Keith Hackett believes West Brom’s Ousmane Diakite should have been sent off for his late challenge on Andrew Hughes that didn’t even result in a penalty for Preston North End.

Graham Alexander earned his first point as Preston manager in the 1-1 draw with West Brom on Saturday but was left furious with a number of decisions by referee Elliot Bell and his officiating team that did not go his side’s way.

Perhaps the most controversial call, which after leaving everyone in Deepdale baffled has since gone on to confuse social media at large, was when Diakite hit Hughes with a high boot in the box and subsequently handled the ball, but Preston’s appeals fell on deaf ears.

Further angles of the incident suggest Diakite may have got the ball and Hughes, who scored the opener, didn’t appear to be hurt by the collision, actually getting back to his feet before his assailant, yet it was clearly a reckless challenge that endangered an opponent.

As it has often been repeated, getting the ball actually doesn’t matter if the follow-through is dangerous.

“Bell clearly requires some operational advice from ProRef”

Experienced ex-ref Hackett, who used to be the head of PGMOL - now named ProRef - says the challenge left him wincing and the referee needs to learn from the mistake.

"I winced when I say this challenge which should have seen the West Brom player dismissed for serious foul play and a penalty kick awarded to Preston," Hackett told West Brom News.

"Referee Elliot Bell clearly requires some operational advice from ProRef.

"I would sit him across a table and show him the clip. I would then ask him to talk me through his process; Where was he positioned? What viewing angle that he achieve? How did he come to his decision not to take appropriate action?

The PGMOL referees need to start learning from these errors."

What Graham Alexander said about refereeing mistakes vs West Brom

Though the challenge by Diakite, who was swiftly taken off by manager James Morrison in the aftermath, was the most eye-catching officiating mishap, it was not the most costly.

That came when Preston had been awarded a throw-in but the decision was overturned by the fourth official, with West Brom going onto score from the subsequent move.

Jusef Erabi was also denied a penalty late on when he was tripped in the box by Brayann Pereira, with all the decisions leaving Alexander fuming.

“Once we went 1-0 up I didn't think we were in that much danger but things went against us today,” the manager told BBC Radio Lancashire.

“There was a poor decision, people think it's okay because it's in the mid-third, it's a throw-in but it definitely came off their player.

“The fourth official makes the decision 10 yards away from the pitch and they score from that.

“The fourth told me that he made the decision but I seen where he was stood, he was stood by the benches 10 yards away from the touchline. There's no way he could have seen the touch.

“The linesman can because he's right down the line on the pitch and can see the touch that goes off, and he just got involved because maybe he was a little bit bored.”

He continued: “There was two instances where we could have had three penalties, if that makes sense.

“The challenge on Andy Hughes in the box, it's almost like a kung-fu kick and he's handballed it. So you can take any of those to give a penalty and then it's a foul on Jusef Erabi at the end of the game in the box as well.

“We have to take that on the chin.”