Frankie McAvoy says he retained faith in Preston players after first away win
Posted Thursday, November 04, 2021 by PA
Preston manager Frankie McAvoy says he never doubted his players after they finally picked up their first away win of the season with a shock 2-1 victory at Championship leaders Bournemouth.
Ali McCann’s first Preston goal 12 minutes from time was enough to end Bournemouth’s 15-match unbeaten start to the season.
McAvoy said: “Tonight was a tough test, Bournemouth are worthy of being top of the league and we knew we’d need to give them territory with the ball.
“I felt if we were disciplined and accomplished in what we set out to do then we could cause them issues and it turned out to be exactly that.
“They put us under a lot of pressure and the boys defended admirably.
“The supporters were magnificent and they have been in my time here.
“We needed to put a game plan together, we worked on it all day yesterday and out of possession we needed to be tough to beat while always having that threat out of possession. In the main, we were excellent.
“They had moments, as you would expect. Once they equalised, I just felt the players were magnificent to a man.
“We knew what we were coming to face but I have always had faith in the group I have got.”
After a poor first half the match sparked into life in the second and Preston broke the deadlock courtesy of Ben Whiteman’s 52nd-minute opener.
Tom Barkhuizen raced into space on the right flank before picking out Whiteman 12 yards out and the midfielder expertly rifled into the top left corner with a pinpoint strike.
Eight minutes later Bournemouth equalised through Philip Billing.
Jack Stacey’s low right-wing cross was only half-cleared by Sean Maguire and Billing reacted quickly to turn onto the loose ball and fire into the bottom right corner.
Preston retook the lead in the 78th minute when McCann swept home from Emil Riss’ left-wing cross.
Their goalkeeper Daniel Iversen made a brilliant double save from Stacey and Jamal Lowe to stop Bournemouth levelling for a second time in the 85th minute.
Bournemouth manager Scott Parker admitted Preston had made it hard for his side.
He said: “Preston came with a very good plan, restricted spaces and we found it hard.
“We huffed and puffed but were not at our clinical best. We lacked that little bit of guile and creative spark.
“The second goal we conceded was poor on our part. Overall, it was below par in terms of where our standards are set.
“We pride ourselves on keeping clean sheets and tonight that was not the case. I am sure there are areas where we need to improve.
“The lads are disappointed that after 15 games unbeaten they have tasted defeat. It is a bit of realism and a bit of rationale.
“We need to bin that while also going over it and work out where we can be better. We will improve, will get better for this and go again.”
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