NEIL BEMOANS LILYWHITES’ FEEBLE ATTACK
ALEX Neil was left frustrated with his Preston side’s lack of a cutting edge after they were held at Cardiff.
The visitors opened the door for their play-off rivals to move ahead of them in the race for the Premier League after failing to make their dominance count.
Neil believes his side deserved all three points, saying: “Everybody who watched the game would have recognised we were by far the better team. Cardiff didn’t have a shot on target.
“We had great opportunities, we dominated the game, had more of the ball and better chances, it was just that final bit.
“If you don’t get the first goal against Cardiff, it’s difficult to break them down. That first goal makes them chase the game and you can create things off the back of that.
“It’s frustrating, we’ll score harder chances than we had today. That little bit of quality wasn’t there, whether it be the final pass or shot.
“We had unbelievable opportunities in terms of overloads and transitions, but the final pass wasn’t good enough.
“I’ve always said, if we’re in the top six come the end of January, we would have had a fantastic season, but then we should really kick on.”
The visitors looked the more likely team to find the breakthrough during a dull first half that contained just a single shot on target. Sean Maguire hit the side netting twice, before setting up a clear-cut chance in the 24th minute.
He put Billy Bodin clean through on goal, but Bluebirds goalkeeper Neil Etheridge reacted to deny the Preston winger from close range.
Cardiff broke downfield moments later and almost scored against the run of play after Leandro Bacuna drove across halfway with the ball.
He lost possession on the edge of the area but the ball broke free for Lee Tomlin, who dragged a low shot inches wide.
Maguire had one final firsthalf chance after latching on to Ben Pearson’s pin-point long ball, but he failed to find the target again. The wayward shooting continued after the restart when Paul Gallagher picked up possession on the edge of the area and curled an effort half a yard wide.
But there was to be no late winner as both sides settled for a share of the spoils.
Joe Ralls was a surprise absentee from the Cardiff side, and manager Neil Harris revealed he will be without their key man over Christmas after he suffered a broken hand.
He said: “It’s a blow, we just got him back and now he will miss a period with a broken hand he picked up in the Leeds game. We also had Joe Bennett go down in training with an Achilles injury. Will he be ready for the Christmas period? I don’t know. We will assess him again.
“It was not the most exciting game, not the excitement we have been used to anyway.
“In some ways I am pleased, because we got a clean sheet and looked relatively reliable... but we lacked creativity.
“Credit goes to Preston – they look a well-oiled ship after two years with Alex Neil. But we weren’t good enough in possession today.”