Match of the Day pundit and former Premier League goalkeeper Rob Green has criticised the decision to award Newcastle United’s equalising goal against Birmingham City.

The Magpies were trailing 1-0 at St Andrew’s in the FA Cup fourth round thanks to Ethan Laird’s opener in the first minute. Joe Willock got Newcastle back on level terms 20 minutes later, but the decision to award the goal has caused debate.

Willock’s shot was pushed away by Blues’ goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell but the assistant referee indicated that the ball had gone over the line. With no goal line technology in place in League One grounds, the decision was final.

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Replays don’t give a clear indication if the call was right or not. Because of that, Green believes that the goal shouldn’t have been awarded, with the pundit claiming that the official had guessed.

“Great save and you can’t say it was a goal,” He said on Match of the Day on Saturday night. “We saw Bailey Peacock-Farrell’s reaction from it - he got pumped. He knew he’s saved it and you don’t know.

“As a referee’s assistant, you cannot say that this is a goal. You are not sure. Everybody has watched this time and time again, you cannot say for certain that is a goal. You have to be certain. The assistant referee can’t have been certain.”

Just a few minutes later, Eddie Howe’s side took the lead through Callum Wilson. They were however pegged back before half time thanks to Tomoki Iwata’s brilliant strike.

With eight minutes left to play, Willock was on hand again to score what turned out to be the winning goal and book his team’s place in the fifth round. Newcastle will discover their opponents when the draw takes place on Monday evening.