'Really proud' - What Paul Heckingbottom said after Preston North End's 3-2 win at Sheffield United
PNE were on the right side of a five goal thriller at Bramall Lane
Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom was full of praise for his players after Saturday’s 3-2 win at Sheffield United.
The Lilywhites were in command at the break, with Liam Lindsay having scored two headed goals from corners by the 20th minute. Chances came along for PNE to score a third but the Blades got back into the game on 71 minutes, when Andrija Vukcevic was harshly penalised for a foul inside the box.
Gustavo Hamer stepped up and slotted his penalty home, but North End swiftly restored their two goal cushion when loan star Lewis Dobbin raced through, rounded the goalkeeper and finished. Patrick Bamford pulled another one back for the hosts, eight minutes from time, but the visitors dug in and managed to see the points home.
Post-match, Heckingbottom said: “Yeah, I enjoyed it. We made it hard for ourselves. We've done that a few times, but proud of the players. We had a lot of damage coming out of the game Wednesday night that we weren't really aware of. We knew we were carrying one or two knocks, but they all turned into being unavailable.
“We were missing a lot who've been key players throughout the season. The boys who had to go again were excellent, and the ones just coming back from injuries, putting them back in were very good. It's always a quick turnaround but it was even busier this time, so I’m proud of what they did today.
“I don't think we've been good enough at set-plays all season. You've just seen the value of them. Also, a big threat from the counter. Dobbo had a huge chance to make it three-nil and that would’ve just killed the game, put it to bed. The fact they get the next goal out with nothing sort of changes the game and then credit to us, we go again.
“Then we give them another goal and then we had another chance to put it to bed. So, listen, we kept going and we kept responding to them, but I felt we made it harder than it needed to be. But they're a good side, and we knew they'd keep throwing everything at us. We had to show everything today. So yeah, big win, really proud of them.”
On the penalty decision, Heckingbottom said: “I’ve not seen it back. But listen, I know Femi (Seriki) really, really well, and I know exactly what he's going to do in those situations. I don't even know if there's any contact at all, but I know exactly what he's going to do once he’s chopped that ball past Andy.”
There were joyful scenes with the players and supporters at the end of the game, with Liam Lindsay, Lewis Dobbin and Alfie Devine fist-pumping the air to roars from the travelling supporters. On the whole, it’s been a disappointing second half to the season for Preston in terms of points but Heckingbottom was glad to finish on a high in their final away trip.
When asked about that, and some of the negativity that has been flying about of late, the North End boss said: “There always is. It's football and it’s getting more commonplace. That's one thing that is changing that isn't for the better in the game. Too many people get voices online and create stories and 99 per cent of it is just utter nonsense.
“So yeah, we ignore it, we want to just get better, that's it. We have to focus on ourselves, we have to focus on now. It will be a huge game for us next week, a great one for Southampton, a great one for us to finish on, which I'm glad about, and then it will be a busy summer.”