The assistant referee who failed to spot that a Pedro Mendes shot for Spurs had crossed the line at Old Trafford on Tuesday said yesterday he was happy with his position at the time and would have needed more pace than Linford Christie to have got far enough down the touchline to have been sure it was goal.

Rob Lewis, who will run the line in tomorrow night's televised FA Cup tie between Burnley and Liverpool, said he favoured the introduction of technology to avoid such mistakes.

But he stressed he had no regrets over his conduct in the controversy which, coming in the last minute, denied Tottenham a 1-0 win over Manchester United.

"I was doing my primary job, which was to stand in line with the last defender and watch for offside," Lewis told his local newspaper, the Shropshire Star.

"I pride myself on being relatively fast over a short distance but, by the time the ball landed, I was still 25 yards away from goal and it was impossible from that distance to judge if it had crossed the line.

"I could not have guessed because you have to be 100 per cent sure on such important decisions. I am disappointed because I always like to get decisions right.

"But I have thought about it a lot and there was nothing I could have done differently apart from run faster than Linford Christie."

Although there was some sympathy for Lewis, Mendes spoke of his frustration at being denied what he called a perfectly good goal. "The ball clearly crossed the line," he said.

"My first reaction on the pitch was to celebrate. I have never seen anything like it in my life. What are we supposed to do now - have a laugh about it?

"I feel frustrated. I wanted to chip Roy Carroll and saw he had let the ball slip out of his hands. The referee was near to where I was and from there it was impossible to tell whether the ball had gone in.

"On the video you can see that the linesman has started running. But he was probably looking at the ground as he ran and failed to see the moment when the ball crossed the line."

The midfielder noted that Spurs were denied an important win but added: "It was a good goal for me to remember, even though it was not given.

"It is not every day that players score from the halfway line," he said ruefully.