Blackburn’s Championship clash against Preston North End saw tempers spill over after Owen Beck appeared to get bitten by his opponent.

The Liverpool loanee was the one who was sent off, though – and Rovers manager John Eustace made no secret of his thoughts on the decision in his post-match interview.

Osmajic appeared to bite his opponent – but he wasn’t given his marching ordersSky Sports

To say tempers boiled over in the Lancashire derby on Sunday would be an understatement.

North End lost Sam Greenwood in the first half after being awarded a straight red for being deemed to go too heavily in on a tackle on Lewis Baker.

With the game locked at 0-0 with less than a minute of normal time to go, Milutin Osmajic hit the deck after duelling with Todd Cantwell and Yuki Ohashi.

Preston’s stars all called for a foul, with the referee blowing his whistle, but the players didn’t stop battling for the ball.

And North End’s Duane Holmes soon landed on the turf, too, going down over Beck’s outstretched leg.

But what cameras didn’t pick up initially was Liverpool loanee Beck appearing to be bitten on the back of his neck by Osmajic.

Replays show the Preston player grabbing Beck under the armpits, and pressing his face into his neck.

The referee was then seen talking to Beck, with the 22-year-old pulling down his shirt and saying: “I’ve got a bite mark.”

He was then left completely dumbfounded when the referee produced a red card from his back pocket for him, instead of his opponent.

Osmajic was issued a yellow card after Beck had been given his marching orders.

Tempers had been bubbling over in Lancashire all afternoonGetty

Beck couldn’t believe the referee had sent him offGetty

Speaking in his post-match interview, Eustace said his player had a ‘big bite mark on his neck’.

He told talkSPORT: “He’s got a big bite mark on the back of his neck and he’s been in and showed all the lads that.

“He’s very disappointed to be sent off, but obviously he doesn’t like to have that on the back of his neck as well, so he’s a bit quiet in there and a bit shook up.”

Asked by Sky Sports if the decision would be appealed, he said: “We’ll have to wait and see.”

Blackburn’s social media admin was also left as baffled as their left-back.

“The ref, who’s completely lost control, sends off Beck,” the club’s official X account wrote.

Plenty of players got involved in the meleeGetty

“Osmajic receives a booking too.”

Fans on social media are stunned the officials missed Osmajic appearing to bite him.

“Please tell me how you can bite someone and get yellow carded,” one wrote. “Championship reffing is actually a shambles.”

A second added: “Preston’s Osmajic certainly going to find himself with a hefty retrospective ban for biting Owen Beck so blatantly there.”

Despite Preston having 10 men for most of the game, they saw out the 0-0 stalemate, leaving them 21st in the Championship. Blackburn sit in fourth.