Preston North End keeper Chris Maxwell: I'm no hero after Aston Villa penalty save

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The PNE goalkeeper dived to save Glenn Whelan’s 97th-minute spot kick – the referee then blew for full-time.

It topped off an evening of drama at Villa Park, one in which North End fought back from being 2-0 down to lead 3-2, Villa equalising and then awarded the penalty.

Maxwell said: “I don’t like to take credit for it, we are all part of a group here and every single player played their part.

“The penalty was my part to play and I played my part, like the three goalscorers did.”

Maxwell was not able to draw on any research when it came to making the late penalty save.

Whelan was not their regular taker but stepped up with Jonathan Kodjia and Tammy Abraham having been substituted.

“Being honest I didn’t know a lot about it,” said Maxwell.

“But I’m a firm believer if something is meant to be, it’s meant to be.

“That is what happened.”

Maxwell revealed the PNE squad believed at 2-0 down that there was still something for them to get out of the game.

The 28 year-old said: “I’ll give you a bit of an insight, at half-time the manager asked us if we believed in ourselves and could we get something.

“Every single one of the boys said, ‘Yes’ .

“We were excellent in the second half, I know Aston Villa had the man sent off but we forced the issue.

“At 2-0 down our backs were against the wall but we went out in front of 27,000 and stuck our chests out.”