Johnson’s two spot kicks give Preston a lift

Alex Neil praised his Preston players for beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 despite having their “backs against the wall”.

Daniel Johnson scored twice from the penalty spot to help move Preston into the top six and record back-toback victories after their midweek win over Stoke City. Steven Fletcher scored for Wednesday.

Sheffield Wednesday defender Moses Odubajo will be keen to forget this game as he was at fault for both penalties and was later hauled off by caretaker manager Lee Bullen.

Neil said: “The players deserve a hell of a lot of credit. We have played in different ways in the last two games and won both. First half we were definitely better and we needed the first goal because Wednesday were stubborn and sat behind the ball. Thankfully we had the penalty to break the deadlock.”

Sabri Lamouchi felt

deserved three points as they defeated 2-1 at Craven Cottage. Two goals by Lewis Grabban extended their unbeaten run of games to four, ending a run of three straight wins for the hosts. Despite a late effort by Aleksandar Mitrovic, Forest held on and head coach Lamouchi was pleased with the victory.

manager Graeme Jones hailed the outstanding characters in his team after they recorded their first Championship win of the season with a 3-1 victory at

Jacob Butterfield, James Collins and Harry Cornick scored for the visitors in the first half with Mallik Wilks pulling a goal back for Barnsley after the break. Jones said: “I couldn’t be happier with where we are today. The boys have been magnificent.”