FOREST DRAW FOR FIRST TIME IN 30
HIS side may have extended their unbeaten run to seven league games, but Preston manager Alex Neil wasn’t full of festive cheer, believing his side should have beaten Nottingham Forest.
Preston required an equaliser from Paul Huntington 15 minutes from time to snatch a point after Ben Brereton put Forest ahead midway through the second half.
It ends a run of four successive away defeats for Forest and was their first draw for 30 matches since their previous visit to Deepdale last season, which ended with the same scoreline.
Neil felt his side lacked a cutting edge and has urged his players to improve in front of goal across the festive period, while also wanting more from his home support.
“We lacked a bit of incisiveness in the final third and we relied on a centre-back to come and score us a goal,” Neil said. “But I feel that we did enough to win it.
“Some of our performances here have been good but today was possibly the best. We played better than we have in some of our recent wins here.
“If we can add some more goals to our game, that’s the key thing because if we can improve that, defensively we have been relatively good.
“It really frustrates me when I hear some people in the crowd moaning and groaning at Alan Browne or any of our players really. They try their absolute best for this club and he deserves to be supported by his own supporters.”
Paul Gallagher’s delivery was the main weapon for the hosts in the first half as he picked out top-scorer Jordan Hugill at the far post after 23 minutes, but his header from 12 yards was straight at Forest keeper Jordan Smith.
Three minutes later Gallagher’s pinpoint free-kick picked out Huntington free inside the area but his header was comfortably over the bar when he should have at least hit the target.
On the half-hour mark Forest, who had lost just one of their last ten meetings with Preston, had their first chance when Ben Osborn picked out Kieran Dowell, but his tame volley was easily pushed wide by Chris Maxwell.
Forest made the breakthrough with a well-executed counter-attack after 58 minutes. Kieran Dowell burst free in the midfield and slipped the ball in behind for Brereton, who broke the offside trap before slotting under Chris Maxwell.
Preston were level after 75 minutes through an unlikely source. Centre-back Huntington picked the ball up on the edge of the area following a corner and hit a swivel-shot with his left foot which Smith couldn’t prevent from finding his bottom left-hand corner.
“It was pleasing, we take the point and we move on to Boxing Day,” Forest manager Mark Warburton said.
“The only negative for us was when we got the goal we stopped doing what we do well. We got the goal and seemed to think that was enough.
“But it’s a tough place to come, they have some quality players, so we should be delighted with the point. It tells you something that we are disappointed not to get all three.
“We move on to two tough home games. The aim is to rest well, recover well and use the time wisely because the games come thick and fast and place unbelievable demands on the playing staff.”