Preston North End boss Alex Neil reacts to victory over AFC Fylde

A hat-trick from Sean Maguire and a fine finish from Billy Bodin gave North End a 4-0 win over the National League side.

They could still afford to miss two penalties, with Paul Gallagher and Daniel Johnson seeing spot-kicks saved.

Neil said: "I thought it was a good game.

"To be fair to Fylde they didn't come and just sit behind the ball and make it hard for us, they came after us and tried to out-play and out-work us which was great.

"It was a good exercise for us and that made the game very open, it left a lot of spaces.

"The two real aspects we wanted to work on was getting the ball back and when we do get it back, work the ball well and create opportunities under a lot of pressure.

"We did both sides very well, especially for spells in the first half when we created a lot of good chances."

Maguire caught the eye in his first run-out of the pre-season, playing an hour.

He scored twice early on and completed his hat-trick just before being substituted.

Neil said: "Seani did both sides of the game well, he dropped in, took the ball in, gave us that extra link, while he got in behind and caused them problems.

"Those goals won't do him any harm, while Billy Bodin is looking sharp at the moment."

Brad Potts and Darnell Fisher were again missing, Neil revealing right-back Fisher had undergone hernia surgery.

Potts had an operation to repair knee cartilage in April and hasn't played yet in pre-season.

Neil said: "Pottsy got an injection in his knee yesterday to settle it down a bit.

"We are very hopeful that will settle down over the next couple of days and we are hoping to see him against Southampton next Saturday.

"Darnell has had an issue with his stomach, he's had a hernia on one side which he's had repaired.

"The recovery ranges from three, four to five weeks.

"We identified uit early, got it done and he should be back sooner rather than later."