Preston North End manager Alex Neil described his side as 'brave' and that it was a 'great performance' despite conceding a late goal to deny them all three points. 

Alex Neil's men dominating large parts of the 1-1 draw with Leeds United at Elland Road and deservedly took the lead on the 22nd minute after Alan Browne topped off a wonderful counter-attack that started deep into Preston's own penalty area.

The draw sees North End open a two point gap between themselves and seventh placed Nottingham Forest as they look to keep up the pressure on the top two.

Despite hitting the post and forcing North End goalkeeper Declan Rudd into two wonderful saves, it took a deflected shot from Stuart Dallas to rescue a point for Marcelo Bielsa's men in the 89th.

Speaking after the game, Preston boss Alex Neil acknowledged that not many teams will come to Elland Road and dominate Leeds the way his side did on Boxing Day.

"Our pressure in the first 30 minutes was sensational," Neil told the Lancashire Evening Post, "There won’t be many teams that come here and do that to them."

"It was a great performance, unfortunately it took a deflected goal to take two points from us," the North End boss added.

Discussing his side's overall game, Neil said: "I thought the players effort, the game plan, how we pressurised the ball – because coming her to play that way, you’ve got to be really brave."

"If you get that wrong you’re going to get hurt, I thought we did magnificently well," he continued, "You have to do it as a unit, you can’t do it as ones and twos or you’re going to get picked off."

The Verdict

North End and Alex Neil will certainly take heart from this performance as they look to prepare for Sunday's clash with Reading, knowing they probably deserved all three points at Elland Road.

Their first half performance especially made Marcelo Bielsa's side look uncharacteristically average and North End deservedly lead at the break.

Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa praised Neil's tactics and Preston's performance after the game, showing that Preston turned in a decent performance to frustrate this Whites.

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