Preston North End boss Frankie McAvoy accepts the pressure is on him after derby defeat

There were chants from the away section at Bloomfield Road for McAvoy to go as the Lilywhites lost 2-0.

North End’s performance was lacklustre, missing the intensity needed in a game of this nature.

Their record this season in the league is three wins, six draws and five defeats.

Next up for the Lilywhites is Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup fourth-round clash with Liverpool at Deepdale.

That is a game club captain Alan Browne will miss after being sent off in injury time at Blackpool.

PNE head coach McAvoy said: “I understand it. Our task is to win games. When you don’t win games, your job is put in jeopardy.

“That is part and parcel of it, we all know that when we take a job in the first place.

“I have to try and get a positive reaction after the result. I was hoping that after the victory against Coventry and the second-half performance in that game, we would be good enough to go to Blackpool and win the game.

“Unfortunately we weren’t and that was disappointing and frustrating.”

PNE rode out some early pressure from the hosts on Saturday, only to concede a soft goal in the 27th minute.

Ben Whiteman had a great chance to equalise three minutes into the second half but fired wide at the end of a counter-attack.

The Seasiders’ second goal came in the 68th minute just after McAvoy had switched formation to 4-4-2.

As against Derby and Coventry in the past week, McAvoy’s half-time team-talk had involved a request for more aggression from his side in terms of taking the game to Blackpool.

So was there an element of frustration that it needed to be said for a third game running?

Said McAvoy: “We have told them that is what we need to do from the start.

“Players when they cross the white line have got a responsibility as well, they’ve got to put their stamp on it.

“It was disappointing that they didn’t but in the main in the second half we did get better. For a spell we got on top but didn’t get an equaliser.

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing but if I’d kept the back three intact, would Blackpool have scored their second goal?

“I don’t know. But at 1-0 I thought we needed to blow it open, get four forward players at the top end.”

Browne’s red card was for two bookings, the second of which saw him react to a foul on Sean Maguire deep into stoppage time, with players from both teams getting involved.