'Why it hurts so much' - Preston North End man outlines dressing room disappointment after Norwich City loss

Preston North End goalkeeper Freddie Woodman was deflated by Saturday’s 0-1 defeat to Norwich City at Deepdale.

In a game Ryan Lowe’s side needed to win, to make a late dart into the play-offs, Gabriel Sara struck in the 86th minute for Norwich. North End hit the crossbar, through Jack Whatmough, just before half-time.

But, David Wagner’s side limited the hosts to few clear-cut chances and nicked all three points late on. PNE lost Ali McCann to injury in midweek and North End’s number one says the recent blows to the squad have made it even tougher.

“It’s been difficult, yeah,” said Woodman. “You see the Norwich squad and you see the other teams - their strength in depth is massive. We have picked up a lot of injuries during the season and Ali was a blow really, because we knew we’d won 4-1 - but we’d lost Ali McCann. So, it was difficult, because it’s hard when you lose players. I feel like all the players who’ve come in have done brilliantly; it is a massive squad game and the whole squad has tried to give everything, to go as far as we can.

“For me, to get within touching distance and still have a chance - we are competing against a lot of top teams. If everyone looks back to the start of the season, I think I remember people saying it is going to be a tough season - with the teams that are in it. So, looking back now, I think we’ve done incredibly well to be in with a chance. That is why it hurts so much, I think, because we are so close. But, like I say, it’s very raw and it hurts. As a professional athlete, no matter if you have nothing to play for, you have got yourself and your pride to play for. That’s what I will be doing.”

On the defeat to Norwich, Woodman added: “Everyone is disappointed with the result. It dampens our chances of getting to the play-offs, obviously. I feel like the lads gave everything and you could see, towards the end, we were tired. The games were catching up with us and yeah, we just couldn’t get the goal.

“It’s disappointing, but there are four games left and we have to keep going. Norwich know what they have to do to get play-offs, so they were just sort of calming it and I think they were happy with the draw. We were pushing, to try and create something and get the win; they catch us on the break and go away one-nil.”