Championship side Preston North End battled bravely before their Carabao Cup exit last night as they fell to a 2-0 defeat to former Premier League champions Liverpool.

Goals in the second half from Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi, with the latter's backheel finish a particular highlight for the Reds, proved to be the difference on the night at Deepdale as the Lilywhites were able to forget about their current league form for one night.

But after their failure to progress through to the quarter-final stage yesterday evening, their main focus will now be back on the Championship, where they have won just one game from their previous nine after failing to turn draws into victories.

This form has left them in 19th position, a disappointing place for Frankie McAvoy's side to be in after winning their last four league games of the 2020/21 season, but not unexpected amid their inability to win games.

Losing just one home game from a possible seven in the second tier this season though, they would have been hopeful of pulling off a shock against Jurgen Klopp's men last night, hope that was distinguished after the hour mark by Minamino and Origi.

One player in Ali McCann did stand out at Deepdale, however, in a big positive for Preston fans.

Despite arriving in a £1.2m deal from St Johnstone in the summer, he has been limited to substitute appearances so far and has missed out entirely in their previous three Championship games.

Several Lilywhites supporters took to Twitter to express their delight at his performance last night though - and we take a look at a selection of their responses.