Preston North End have missed a big opportunity after losing 1-0 away at Birmingham City on Monday afternoon.
PNE headed into the second part of this Easter double-header on a high after beating Rotherham United 3-0 on Friday.
North End were outstanding in that game, ripping Rotherham apart with a three-goal first-half performance.
Repeating that against Birmingham was never going to be easy – especially with Gary Rowett in charge.
Rowett’s record against PNE is astonishing; in 14 games against North End, he has never lost, picking up eight wins and six draws.
Rowett took his record to that level on Monday as his Blues side picking up a 1-0 home win thanks to Jay Stansfield’s goal.
Liam Lindsay’s slip on the halfway line saw Stansfield run clear to score and PNE just couldn’t find a leveller.
North End just never really got going and came back down to earth with a bump after Friday’s convincing victory.
Ryan Lowe will now take his side to face Watford on Saturday with the play-off hopes now up in the air…
PNE miss an opportunity
The defeat obviously stings for PNE, but especially after seeing other play-off contenders slip up on Monday.
Norwich City occupy the final play-off spot as things stand but they were beaten 3-1 at Leicester City.
The Canaries took the lead but ended up being beaten by a Leicester side desperate for a victory.
North End sit five points behind Norwich, so a win at Birmingham would have been enormous in terms of cutting the gap to David Wagner’s side.
Coventry City are in seventh but they lost too, falling to a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Cardiff City.
The Bluebirds benefited from two own goals by Sky Blues defender Liam Kitching, leaving Coventry empty-handed.
Hull City also lost, conceding two late goals to fall to a 3-1 defeat at Leeds United.
Two late goals saw Leeds do PNE another favour on Monday night but North End hadn’t taken full advantage of play-off rivals slipping up.
This was a real opportunity for PNE to pile the pressure on the top six – especially against a struggling Birmingham side – but it just wasn’t to be.
The bonus is that everybody around North End losing means that ground hasn’t ben lost and it’s basically a case of the status quo in the hunt for a play-off spot.
This one feels like a game North End had to win though, especially with tough games against Norwich, Southampton, Leicester City and West Bromwich Albion still to come.
PNE are still in the mix and the hunt is not over yet, but Monday’s defeat feels like a missed chance given the defeats for teams around North End.
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