JEFF Winter has leapt to the defence of under-fire referee Mark Clattenburg, despite referees' chief Keith Hackett admitting he would be seeking a one-to-one meeting with the Chester-le-Street official.

Clattenburg, who became the youngest top-flight official earlier this season at the age of 29, has been roundly criticised for failing to award Tottenham a clear goal in the dying minutes of Tuesday's 0-0 draw with Manchester United.

Roy Carroll dropped Pedro Mendes' speculative 55-yard lob three feet over his own goalline but, with his assistant Robert Lewis failing to flag, Clattenburg waved play on.

Hackett, who leads the body responsible for the training and management of all match officials, admitted that both Clattenburg and Lewis got the crucial decision wrong.

But Winter, who hung up his whistle in the summer, does not feel the North-East's only top-flight referee should be made to carry the can.

"There was nothing the referee or his assistant could have done," said Winter, who officiated in last season's FA Cup final between Manchester United and Millwall.

"Linford Christie couldn't have got up there to be 100 per cent sure. The ball travelled about 60 yards. It was just one of those freak things.

"The linesman was in the right place at the right time to deal with any offside decisions - there's no way he could have anticipated what was going to happen next.

"And if Mark couldn't see himself, and there was no flag from the linesman, there's no way in the world he could have given a goal."

The controversy has re-opened the debate over the use of goalline technology to help the referee when there is uncertainty over whether or not the ball has gone into the net.

The Football Association last night confirmed that they would be willing to accept the introduction of such technology, and Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren also threw his weight behind calls for the use of either video replays or microchips.

"The FA is willing to discuss and consider any form of goalline technology that would improve decision-making while not disrupting the game," said an FA statement.

However, it is far from clear that such technology currently exists, and Winter has warned that any new developments must be foolproof before they are introduced into the game.

"The technology isn't there at the minute and that's a major problem," he said. "On Tuesday night, every man and his dog could see that the ball was over the line, but it isn't always going to be like that.

"I'm not aware of any technology currently available that would be fool-proof in every situation.

"People talk about putting a camera on the goalpost, but what happens when a centre-half hooks the ball right off the line with his body in the way? Or what happens when it's a corner and you've got three or four people stood on the line? Similarly, people talk about using a microchip so the referee would hear a bleep, like with Cyclops at Wimbledon. But that's hardly foolproof is it? There are games when that's going off every five minutes."

The cost of installing video technology at every Football League ground could also prove prohibitive.

Adidas claim to have designed a ball with a microchip that would bleep when it has crossed the goalline, but someone would still need to pay for the technology that would alert the referee to what had happened.

"The problem is where you draw the line," warned Winter. "As things stand, you would need UEFA and FIFA to agree to any change in the law.

"That would then change the laws of football for everyone - from Premiership clubs to teams in the Darlington and District League.

"Obviously that's not practical - you can't have video replays on a Sunday morning - so you would need a radical rule change whereby it only applies to the professional game.

"But, even then, you've got clubs like Wrexham that can hardly afford to pay their own players.

"Are they going to stump up £40,000 to have video technology installed in their ground?"