Teen star Jude has a Rudd-y tricky return
JUDE BELLINGHAM’S whirlwind 48 hours ended in frustration with Brum still in danger of the drop.
After jetting to Germany on Thursday for a medical with Borussia Dortmund ahead of a £22million record-breaking move, it was back to the nailbiting scrap for survival.
No one can accuse the teenager of having his mind elsewhere as he supplied the energy and endeavour only for Preston keeper Declan Rudd to provide the heroics.
And with Patrick Bauer and Brad Potts doing the business at the other end it means that Bellingham’s side need a win from their last game of the season against Derby to avoid the shame of relegation to football’s third tier.
Caretaker boss Steve Spooner said: “We have to come out all guns blazing. All I’m thinking about is beating Derby, pride is at stake. No one wants to be involved in a team that finishes in the bottom three.”
There was no faulting Bellingham’s effort – he even picked up a booking for a hack at Ryan Ledson.
But the England youth star and his team-mates couldn’t prevent Bauer giving Alex Neil’s side a 43rd-minute lead.
Paul Gallagher delivered a corner for the defender to side-foot home inside the six-yard box.
Preston had to thank Rudd for maintaining the lead with two outstanding stops, first from a Gary Gardner volley then blocking a Harlee Dean header – with Bellingham sending his follow-up attempt wide.
That paid dividends later when Potts cut into the area and drilled a neat left-footed strike past Lee Camp.
Preston are out of the promotion running and boss Neil said: “It’s painful missing out but this group of players have given everything.”
AFTER a perfect pursuit of their Premier League dream since lockdown, Brentford lost their nerve at the worst possible moment.
Defeat here not only confirmed Leeds as champions – and what an incredible 19 hours they have had without even kicking a ball – but also leaves the Bees staring at the uncertainty of the play-offs.
The London club have waited 73 years to return to the top flight. But in the space of those 19 hours, after West Brom lost to Huddersfield on Friday evening, they went from a destiny in their own hands to now relying on a slip-up from their rival.
Put simply, if the Baggies win their final match, they are automatically promoted alongside Leeds.
But Brentford manager Thomas
Frank insisted his players did not bottle their chance of glory.
He said: “There will be a lot of experts who will say, ‘oh they couldn’t cope with the pressure.’
“But Stoke are a difficult team to play against and once they got that goal it is about very small margins.
“Of course it is frustrating. If we say it is not emotional now for the players, staff and me that would be a lie. We would love to go in the final game of the season with our destiny in our own hands, but that is the rollercoaster of football.
“We must save our emotion, look forward, reset our emotions and get a fresh hit ready to go again against Barnsley on Wednesday.”
For Brentford, this shattering set back is all the crueller because they had won all their matches since football resumed.
Frank added: “It has been an unbelievable run, and I said to them, whether it takes one or four games now to go up, I will be proud of them at the end of the season.”
Brentford can point to a solid penalty shout in the dying seconds, when James McClean pushed Ollie Watkins. But for a side whose front three have scored 57 goals this season, they didn’t create enough.
Stoke’s tough approach was the key but they created chances too.
Lee Gregory tapped home in the 38th minute after a howler from
Brentford keeper David Raya – a goal which also meant Stoke keep their Championship status.
Manager Michael O’Neill said: “Yeah of course we are satisfied. When I came in I thought it was a hard job. We had too many players who didn’t want to be at the club and too many loan players who didn’t want to contribute either.
“So we had to turn around and get players with more hunger and we have managed that.”