Speaking after the demoralising loss, Lilywhites captain Alan Browne admitted that the side's pre-season hopes of making the play-offs now look to be unlikely to come to fruition.
He revealed: "I think, being realistic, the play-offs are a long way off. Other than something magnificent happening, which at the moment I don't see.
"It's all about being as strong as we can possibly can. We have a lot of new players and we haven't clicked straight away, and in preparation for next season we need to gel.
"Our ambition all along was the play-offs, but we are not up there. We can't feel sorry for ourselves, because we could easily get dragged into it at the other end if we got on a bad run - we need results."
Tonight, Preston will look to bounce back with a much-needed win, when they take on QPR - a side they beat 2-0 back in October - at Deepdale.
Here are today's biggest transfer stories and the latest team news involving Preston North End and the rest of the Championship, ahead of the midweek action:
"It's all about being as strong as we can possibly can. We have a lot of new players and we haven't clicked straight away, and in preparation for next season we need to gel.