Neil can’t rest easy

A LATE own goal by Preston keeper Daniel Iversen piled more agony on under-fire boss Alex Neil, who admitted: “I’m looking over my shoulder.”

Defeat leaves North End with only two wins in their last 11 matches, and 20 defeats over the season have seen some fans turn on Neil, whose side are only nine points above the drop zone.

Now near the end of his fourth season in charge, Neil is feeling the pressure with talk of the axe hanging over him.

And with games against top sides Norwich, Swansea and Brentford after the international break, he said: “I’ve been looking over my shoulder since the transfer window closed.

“Some errors we have made of late beggar belief. It’s difficult to rationalise and then give ourselves a chance of winning the game, but confidence is the key.”

Victory for Luton puts them safe on 50 points with full marks to James Collins, whose 83rd-minute shot took a deflection off Iversen for the winner (above).

They could have made the breakthrough late in the first half when Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu saw his effort deflected over Iversen by Liam Lindsay, only for the ball to hit the bar.

Hatters’ boss Nathan Jones was adamant the goal should count as Collins’ 11th of the season, adding: “I put him on to win the game and he did.

“The game was there to be won, but we needed more tempo and quality and the subs helped with that.”

PRESTON: Iversen 8; van den Berg 7, Storey 6, Lindsay 6, Rafferty 7; Ledson 6 (Gallagher 85), Whiteman 6; Sinclair 6 (Maguire 67, 6), Johnson 6 (Bodin 83), Gordon 5 (Barkhuizen 67, 6), Evans 6 (Potts 83). Unused subs: Ripley, RIis, Molumby, Huntingon. LUTON: Sluga 6; Pearson 6, Rea 6, Naismith 7; Bree 7, Tunnicliffe 6 (Ince 69, 6), Dewsbury-Hall 7, Mpanzu 7, Clark 6; Cornick 7 (Cullins 76), Adebayo 6 (Nombe 76). Unused subs: Shea, Cranie, Berry, Lockyer, Lualua, Nombe, Morrell.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Daniel Iversen. Loanee keeper kept Preston alive, then was so unlucky to deflect in the decider. REFEREE: Thomas Bramall 7.