Alex Neil: Preston players ‘worked their socks off’ in Huddersfield win

Posted Sunday, October 25, 2020 by PA

Manager Alex Neil hailed Preston’s team spirit and work ethic after they came from behind to win 2-1 at Huddersfield.

Fraizer Campbell had put the Terriers ahead after eight minutes, but Alan Browne levelled with a powerful shot in the 51st minute and he doubled the lead two minutes later following a goalkeeping blunder from Ben Hamer.

Huddersfield then played the last 12 minutes a man down after Naby Sarr was sent off for a professional foul on Emil Riis Jakobsen.

“Our boys deserve unbelievable credit,” Neil said. “We got back at 3am from London in midweek, Huddersfield had an extra day’s rest.

“When you play Huddersfield, who run and run, that extra day’s rest is important. For us to churn out what we did was brilliant, they left everything on the pitch.

“We have never lacked confidence and belief, we have never given up. We are not short of team spirit that’s for sure.

“They changed their shape at the start which is unlike them. I have followed Carlos Corberan’s path since being at Leeds and been impressed, he’s a good coach who knows what he’s doing.

“I expected a back four, so I had to alter how we were going to play against it.

“The shape wasn’t the issue in the first 10 mins, we lacked aggression and comfort on the ball. We clicked into life when they scored and played a lot better.

“Huddersfield are a good side who you need to get after. You need to move the ball fast against them to create the space.

“Huddersfield were better in the first 10 minutes but I think we deserved the win. The lads worked their socks off and I’m really pleased with the performance.”

Town boss Carlos Corberan felt his side paid the price for a poor start to the second half.

“We scored the goal, they reacted and then we finished the first half well,” he said. “We created chances and it was a positive start.

“We knew we had to start the second half well and we didn’t. After that we saw the spirit and had to take risks.

“The first 10 minutes of the second half meant we couldn’t get something from this game. We need to learn from this. We talked about the importance of the first minutes of the second half.

“We showed a good reaction after their two goals and created chances that could have allowed us to draw the game.

“When we went down to 10 men, the team showed a level of energy that is not easy to show.

“I am pleased with the spirit of the team and the desire we showed to get the equaliser to the end.

“I did not see the red card but I hope the referee made the right decision. It was a tough physical game, which we knew it would be. We knew it would be complicated to beat them.

“We cannot say we lost the game because of the mistake of a goalkeeper. He made a mistake and we expect him to react to it.”