A real downer for Clough
AGONY: For Burton striker Hope Akpan NIGEL CLOUGH had to pick his broken Burton players off the floor after the cruellest of last-day heartbreaks.
Burton were on course to defy the odds and stay up once Hope Akpan struck midway through the second half.
As the seconds to the full-time whistle ticked along, the Brewers looked safe with a point as Bolton were losing to Clough’s old club Nottingham Forest.
But the Trotters snatched a dramatic comeback win, while a late Louis Moult goal for Preston only added to Burton’s agony.
Brewers boss Clough said: “Everybody in the dressing room is really flat. There’s a lot of upset players in there but we’re down because of a reason.
“And the reason is that over 46 games we haven’t been good enough, it’s as simple as that.
“We didn’t get enough points. We had too many draws and wasted too many opportunities.
“Bolton were always going to be the problem. You always worry when your rivals play against a team with nothing to play for.”
Preston went into the clash hoping to sneak into the play-offs but they needed Derby to lose at home to Barnsley. That didn’t come close to happening, even after Callum Robinson had headed North End into a 26th-minute lead.
Billy Bodin’s red card shortly after the break and Akpan’s strike put Burton in control.
But matters would be taken out of the Brewers’ hands just down the road in Lancashire before Moult wrapped up the win.
Preston boss Alex Neil said: “I take no pride in sending a team down, but we can look back with some pride at what we’ve achieved this year.”