Preston North End centre-backs recognised for their performances as Lilywhites keep a rare home clean sheet

Storey was named in the WhoScored.com team of the weekend, getting an 8.5 score for his display.

Bauer, who scored in the 2-0 win over the Blues at Deepdale, got a place in the EFL’s team of the week.

Statistics show that both defenders won their fair share of headed duels against Birmingham’s powerful striker Lukas Jutkiewicz.

At the other end of the pitch, Bauer’s calm finish in the 43rd minute gave North End the lead.

A statistic which went somewhat unnoticed during the post-match inquest on the failure to make the top-six was that it was a rare clean sheet at Deepdale this season.

It was only the third time on home turf that PNE had shut out the opposition in a Championship game.

The other two had been much earlier in the campaign against Wigan (3-0) on August 10 and Brentford (2-0) on September 14.

Three clean sheets is the joint lowest at Deepdale in a 23-home game season – it matches that of 2010/11.

On their travels this season, North End have kept six clean sheets – Birmingham, Charlton, Cardiff, Barnsley, Stoke and Huddersfield.

The pairing of Bauer and Storey at the heart of the defence has been rare this season.

They played as a two in the 4-0 defeat at Hull City in November.

It was not until the 3-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday two weeks ago that they came together again, used in a three-man defence together with Ben Davies.

In the next game against Nottingham Forest, Storey came off the bench to replace the injured Davies just before the interval.

Bauer, Storey and Andrew Hughes played as a three at Brentford last week, then it was Bauer and Storey in a flat back four against Birmingham.

Storey coming back into the side and performing to the level he did at times last season, when he won PNE’s young player of the year award, has been a bonus in a difficult time since the restart.

With first-team chances few and far between for him this season until recently, the 22-year-old has displayed a maturity to slot straight back in without a problem.