Following Preston North End’s harrowing defeat to promotion rivals Brentford, both manager, Simon Grayson, and centre forward John Welsh believes that the side can bounce back in emphatic fashion, ahead of the Boxing Day trip to play strugglers Carlisle and Brunton Park, in a game North End need to win to still be considered realistic promotion contenders, with a gap increasing between Leyton Orient, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and third placed Brentford.
Grayson, who projected is disappointed figure following the home defeat, was cautiously optimistic ahead of the Boxing Day clash away at Carlisle.
Speaking to reporters from BBC Radio Lancashire, The Lancashire Evening Post, and the club’s official channel PNETV, Grayson stated.
“ I don’t think there was too much in the game, they get the penalty decision, they get another goal straight after, so we’re disappointed to go into the break 2-0 down. The games are won and lost like that”
“There wasn’t too much in the game, I asked for the players to give it their all and win their individual battles. “
“Too many of our players lost too many individual battles, and that cost us the game in the end “
“ We should have been more in their faces , and we had the momentum, they were on the back foot and I feel that he could have got back into the game “
“ We weren’t ruthless enough in the final third, or the 18 yard box, we are disappointed but we’ll dust ourselves off and individuals will analyse their performances “ .
Centre forward John Welsh also admitted his disappointment about the result, and felt that an improvement needs to be made, ahead of the next few games in the festive period.
The hosts were 2-0 down after 26 minutes, after a ruthless Brentford put North End to the sword, with the two goals in quick succession effectively finishing the game off, with Preston unable to mount a real comeback of any nature.
Welsh stated to the Lancashire Evening Post….
“I don’t know where to start really.
“We started quite well but then we conceded the first goal and the second gave us a mountain to climb.
“I thought we kept going but the thing that disappointed us the most were the goals that we gave away.
“They were not created by brilliant play by Brentford, it was just bad defending really.
“That has not been us this season because we are usually hard to beat and we do not give many chances to teams.
The Liverpudlian had some morale boosting words for Joe Garner, who missed the penalty in the home defeat.
“Obviously if we had scored the penalty then who knows what would have happened?
“But Joe Garner has been brilliant for us in the last couple of months and there is no blame on him.
“He had the courage to take the penalty and that is just the way football is sometimes.”
The midfielder stated in the post-match interview.
“You get a bit desperate in that sort of situation.
“We do try and play football but we got in a bit of a rush when we should have been passing it.
“But you can’t give a team like Brentford a two-goal head start. They are where they are in the league, not through luck, but because they are a good side.
“We knew this was a massive game and we came up short. The important thing is that we learn from it and move on.
“I think we have shown this season that we are good at coming back from disappointing results, so it just makes it an even bigger game at Carlisle on Boxing Day.
Welsh also revealed an insight on how he will spend Christmas day.
I get to spend Christmas night with Keith Keane in the hotel which should be interesting!
“As a footballer you get used to playing and training at this time of year. My family accepts that it comes as part of the job.
“On Christmas Day I’ll open my presents, have a bit of dinner – not too much – and then it’s in for training.”
By Ben Reardon.
@BenReardon1
