O’NEILL GIVES REF STICK OVER LOLLEY
MARTIN O’Neill was adamant his Nottingham Forest side were denied a perfectly good goal as they were held at Preston North End.
Joe Lolley had the ball in the back of the net 12 minutes from time at Deepdale, only for it to be ruled out because of a foul on Declan Rudd by Ryan Yates.
But Forest boss O’Neill insisted Rudd had simply fumbled the ball, with both teams well within their rights to challenge for it – Lolley proving the most reactive.
That followed the controversial late equaliser conceded against West Brom on Tuesday when Jay Rodriguez scored from the spot after Dwight Gayle had gone down – the striker has since been hit with a two-match ban for simulation.
And with Forest just outside the play-off places, O’Neill was understandably frustrated at seeing more points slip away.
He said: “We should have taken all three points. The goal should have stood in the second half.
“The keeper spilt the ball and it was there to fight for. We have been robbed of all three points again.”
The visitors enjoyed the better of the game, but they watched a number of first-half chances go begging.
Despite their lacklustre display, Brad Potts had two good chances to give Preston all the points.
Potts had a fierce shot blocked for a second-minute corner and Jordan Storey headed over from a Paul Gallagher corner minutes later, before Costel Pantilimon saved Darnell Fisher’s deflected effort.
But it was Forest who had the lions share of the chances with Milosevic heading over Declan Rudd’s bar after 10 minutes and Ben Pearson did well to cut out Lolley’s dangerous cross as the unmarked Lewis Grabban prepared to fire home.
Lolley had a volley deflected behind by Fisher minutes later as Forest began to dominate. Grabban had a goal ruled out after he strayed offside from Daryl Murphy’s header after 29 minutes.
Five minutes later Benalouane headed over for Forest, before Sean Maguire had a header saved.
Potts volleyed over for Preston after Alan Browne carved out an opening following a good start to the second half by Preston.
At the other end, Ben Osborn fired well over after 54 minutes as the visitors regained control.
Browne cleared Murphy’s knock down brilliantly at the back post as Ryan Yates prepared to fire home from two yards.
Preston manager Alex Neil admitted the standard was below that shown by his side in recent weeks.
He said: “We had three good opportunities in the first half and if one of those goes in it’s a very different game.
“The first 10 minutes was key for us. If we had got the early goal it would have brought Forest out and made them more expansive.
“Lewis Grabban is excellent at this level, but Ben Davies is a top centre-back and he dealt with him really well, which was pleasing.”