Preston North End goalkeeper Declan Rudd has reflected on Tuesday night’s defeat to West Brom and delivered his verdict on the promotion-chasers, claiming they are the champions-elect.

The Lilywhites made the trip to the Hawthorns looking for a positive result against the Baggies to try to close the gap to the automatic promotion places, however, they were dealt a blow as first-half goals from Hal Robson-Kanu and Jake Livermore settled proceedings.

It wasn’t enough to get any form of a result for Preston but they could leave the Midlands with their heads held high, being able to put in a solid performance to go toe-to-toe with the league leaders.

They were handed a lifeline in their chase to consolidate their top-six spot as results elsewhere went their way with Bristol City and Brentford both losing away from home to relegation candidates.

Speaking after the game, goalkeeper Declan Rudd reflected on the match and facing arguably the league’s best side as they extended their lead at the top of the table to 10 points. He had this to say to the club’s official website: “We obviously knew it was going to be a tough game, you look at their individuals and they’re pretty much a Premier League team.

“Their front four would give any team trouble, so we knew it was going to be tough, but when you concede so early it just puts you on the back foot and it’s hard to come back from there. We played against, in my opinion, the league winners and if they keep going like that, there’s no way anyone’s going to catch them; they’re different class when they get going.

“It’s the quality they’ve got, everyone here knows the quality (Callum Robinson) Robbo’s got and I think he’s taken that to the next level. He looked unbelievable out there, it’s a shame he had to do it against us but he’s been doing it week in, week out recently.

“It’s just one of them games now where it’s done, we’ve got to put it to one side, we’ve played against the league leaders and haven’t disgraced ourselves, we gave it a good go but we just come up short.”

The win sees the Baggies sitting pretty at the top of the table and Alex Neil’s side three points clear of seventh place after Bristol’s loss. Up next for the Lilywhites is another tough test as they make the trip to Craven Cottage to face Fulham.

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The Verdict

While it’s a bold claim to make from Rudd, he appears to be right at the moment as they stretch their lead at the top of the table.

The signing of Callum Robinson has paid massive dividends so far as he contributed to another goal, with a deft cross finding Robson-Kanu for the opening goal.

Preston still look a good shout for the Play-Offs and their performance at the Hawthorns has done their confidence no damage as they held their own quite well.

A win at the weekend would be massive for their season if they can prove themselves against the teams around them.