Confidence sky high for play-off push says Preston boss Alex Neil

ALSO READ: Alex Neil hails 'magnificent' PNE display as penalty denies them all three points at Aston VillaFor the second time in a matter of days North End felt they should have tasted victory against one of the division’s big-hitters at Aston Villa last night.

The Lilywhites had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Villa Park as a controversial second-half penalty from Lewis Grabban cancelled out Tom Barkhuizen’s opener.

On the back of matching Wolves at Deepdale on Saturday it was another strong showing for Neil’s men who controlled large parts of the game against a side third in the table.

“People will look at our squad and look at their squads and think we should just roll over and get our bellies tickled but that’s not how we work,” said the PNE boss, who saw his side close to within two points of the top six.

“We work extremely hard. I’m proud of my team and the players are proud players they want to go and show what they can do.

“Over the last three weeks against Brentford, against Wolves and again tonight we’ve shown we can mix it with the best in the league.

“Our budget doesn’t need to be the size of theirs, how we go about it is what matters.