EFL pundit delivers verdict on Jonny Howson's disallowed goal which left Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock fuming against Reading

Boro boss Neil Warnock was left fuming after his side were denied a second-half opener at the Riverside, before letting his feelings known in his post-match press conference.

“We had to be really on our game today and not worry about beautiful football and things like that,” said Warnock. ”We knew it would be a dour game and we thought one goal would do it and we scored that, great goal.

“It disappoints me that a linesman looking straight across can't see it's onside. Even their IT lad was telling us it was onside.

"I wonder what he (the linesman) thinks tonight when he goes home and watches that.

"We worked so hard for that and someone who hasn't played the game....it's easy to put your flag up but it's wrong and it's three points gone."

When assessing the match on the EFL’s highlights show on Quest, Colin Murray and former West Ham striker Dean Ashton couldn’t definitively determine if Howson was offside.

Without the benefit of VAR replays, Ashton said: “We have the markings of the groundsmans lawnmower and he looks onside if you look at those lines.

“It’s so marginal, sometimes you get them sometimes you don’t but that could have been crucial for Middlesbrough today, who let’s be honest they didn’t dominate the game.

“Reading were in control of that football match and it’s something Neil Warnock really needs to work on in terms of his team being able to dominate games, especially at home.”

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