PILKINGTON HITS SPOT FOR SLADE
RUSSELL Slade tipped Anthony Pilkington to keep getting better in his new striking role after he scored two penalties to put Cardiff within touching distance of the Championship play-off places.
The Republic of Ireland international scored from 12 yards in each half to put Cardiff one place and just three points behind sixth-place Sheffield Wednesday.
Pilkington has now hit three in his last three appearances for the Bluebirds and Slade says the 27-year-old has been a revelation since he began leading the line.
“People said Anthony was a makeshift striker but I really believe he could have a career up front,” he said.
“He’s quick, he’s clever and he can finish. He is loving scoring the goals and having the responsibility of playing up top.
“We are so pleased with his contribution and he is a bit unfortunate not to have scored a few more this season.
“He’s doing a terrific job for us, he’s got seven goals and could easily hit double figures this season.
“We’ve won via a couple of penalties but I thought we could have scored a few more goals. But this is the business end of the season and it’s all about results now.”
Pilkington almost gave the home side the lead after 18 minutes when his whipped cross from the right caught out Anders Lindegaard only for the ball to come back off the post.
He carved out a chance for himself shortly after with a lovely one-two with striker partner Lex Immers but couldn’t match the build-up with a finish as he blazed over the bar.
Preston were struggling to create anything going forward in the first half and Adam Reach’s dragged effort was about as close as they came in the opening 45 minutes.
Midway through the first half Lindegaard made two fantastic saves to stop Cardiff taking a deserved lead, pushing Pilkington’s header onto the post before leaping to his feet to block Immers’ follow-up.
But Cardiff broke the deadlock with two minutes left of the first half when Pilkington was brought down in the box by Paul Huntington and the forward got his feet to smash the spot kick home.
Preston came out firing in the second half and thought they had an equaliser after 20 minutes, when Reach slotted past David Marshall but his effort was ruled out for offside.
A tactical switch from Preston boss Simon Grayson, swapping forward Jordan Hugill for midfielder Daniel Johnson, put Cardiff under pressure but just as the visitors looked like getting an equaliser they conceded a second.
Tom Lawrence raced into the Preston box and he was pulled back by Paul Gallagher for the game’s second penalty, which Pilkington again put away with ease.
Substitute Callum Robinson set up a nervy ending for the home side when he converted Greg Cunningham’s low cross but there was no time for a leveller.
Preston boss Grayson said:“The firsthalf was a non-event, we didn’t play with energy shown in a lot of games and there wasn’t much in it, then the penalty changes things.
“We changed the system to try and get some more urgency and we looked like a different team. We responded well and looked like we could have got something out of it at the end.
“They were hanging on at the end and we’re disappointed but we can’t be too down because of the run we’ve been on. Cardiff didn’t have too many clear cut chances, it was a bit dour to be fair but they got the breaks.”