Preston boss, Alex Neil, has praised his side stating that they 'didn't let us down' after his Lilywhites side went down 3-0 to Manchester City at Deepdale.

It was always going to be a tough ask coming up against a world-class side with star-studded quality all around the pitch, and three first-half goals confirmed Preston's exit from this year's Carabao Cup.

They have had a good start to the season though, and currently sit in third place after the opening eight fixtures of the season.

Neil has stated that his side will remain positive and shouldn't be disheartened after facing the Premier League champions.

Speaking to pnefc.net, Neil said: “That’s one thing that we’re guaranteed with these lads, they’ll always work hard. I don’t think they let us down at all tonight.

“We shouldn’t be disheartened.

“What we should be doing is taking the positives out of the game.

“There was a great crowd tonight who were excellent for us and I thought the lads did us proud.

"We’ll take all that positivity and we’ll go into the league campaign on Saturday which is really important, and hopefully try and win that game.”

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The Verdict

Preston shouldn't be disheartened at all by the result, and not by their second-half performance either.

I'm sure the home fans were fearing the worst when it was 3-0 at half-time, but they kept it at that score-line, which was much better than some of the sides who have faced Pep Guardiola's side in the past season.

It'll be interesting to see whether Neil's side can mount a serious promotion challenge this season or whether they're just going through some early season form at the moment.

They have a tough game against another promotion contender on Saturday when they take on Lee Johnson's Bristol City side.