Preston North End manager Alex Neil says Aitor Karanka’s Birmingham City will be tough to break down

The Blues won 1-0 at Middlesbrough on Saturday, Scott Hogan netting the winner.

It ended a run of six games without a victory in the league, seven including the FA Cup defeat at Manchester City.

The win at Boro was textbook Championship, their hosts up in seventh place. It underlined how inconsistent many sides have been this season.

North End boss Alex Neil said: “This is a difficult league, look at some of the results from the weekend.

“Birmingham winning at Middlesbrough was a great result for them, they’ve been through a tough spell recently.

“Luton won at Bournemouth too. It doesn’t matter where you go and who you play, the games are tough.”

Neil rates the Blues squad and knows Aitor Karanka will have them organised. Said Neil: “The boy Hogan moved for £13m at some point in his career, Ivan Sunjic cost them £6m and Kristian Pedersen £3m.

“They are a proper team, they have some good players. Looking at their squad and ours, I don’t think there is much difference in quality.

“They are difficult to play against, Aitor always has his sides defensively well structured.”