Preston North End player ratings vs Southampton with one 7.5/10 in final day defeat

Preston North End rounded off the 2025-26 campaign with a 1-3 home defeat to Southampton.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis gave the Saints the lead on 12 minutes with a powerful header before Ross Stewart made it two for the play-off bound visitors, shortly after the break. Lewis Dobbin halved the deficit on the hour after pouncing on a Daniel Peretz error, rolling the ball into an empty net. North End had enjoyed decent spells against Tonda Eckert’s side, who are unbeaten in 19 leagues games, but Southampton made it three in injury time when Cyle Larin slotted in from one yard out.

Here are our player ratings...

Starting XI

Daniel Iversen: Shaky moment with Stewart at 1-0 down. Couldn’t have done much about Harwood-Bellis’s header. Gathered well from crosses. Made way at the break. 6

Jordan Storey: Struggled to deal with Scienza in behind. Headed off at half-time. 5.5

Liam Lindsay: Poor for Stewart’s goal. Done for pace a few times but battled away until the end. Couple of free headers in the first half which should’ve hit the target. 5.5

Andrew Hughes: Great block early on and stopped a number of promising attacks. Tidy enough on the ball. Beaten by Archer before the second. 6

Brad Potts: Forced some corners. Looked a bit leggy. Decision-making hot and cold in final third. 5.5

Alfie Devine: Covered plenty of ground. Decent effort saved by Peretz. Made some great runs into clever areas, both out wide and in the middle. 7

Ben Whiteman: Fairly assured in the middle. Unlucky not to score in the first half - unbelievable save from Peretz. Great tackle on Stewart late on. 6.5

Andrew Moran: Ambitious effort from 25 yards that went close. Plenty of hard work and some tidy passes into the final third. 6

Andrija Vukcevic: Some brilliant crosses from the left and driving runs. 7

Lewis Dobbin: Grew into the game and asked questions. Alert to loose balls, showed a calm head for his goal and went until the end. 7.5

Daniel Jebbison: Worked hard again but couldn’t get any openings. Linked play up nicely in final third a few times. Made way mid way through the second half. 6

Substitute

Dai Cornell: Long ball caught out Peretz. Great save from a late free kick. Caught out for third goal. 6

Odel Offiah: Limited Scienza once he got into the box. Made some good forward runs. 6.5

Milutin Osmajic: Pressed from the front. Never got his scoring chance. 6

Jordan Thompson: Some quality corners swung in. 6

Robbie Brady: Brought on in final 10. 5.5