Verdict: Preston North End gave a good account against Premier League Wolves in the Carabao Cup but it exposed problem areas

It was a game that the home side were expected to win and they did, but North End were always to be judged on their performance rather than the result.

Raul Jimenez put the home side in front inside five minutes, with Adama Traore's fantastic volley making it two before half time.

Dai Cornell, playing his first game for North End, saved a Hwang Hee Chan penalty before half time and Ben Woodburn pulled a goal back just after the break.

PNE were second best early on in the game, the home side were knocking it about well and looking very much like a side that is a step above the Lilywhites.

They took their opening goal well and looked to push and get another, which they did, but North End still held strong.

PNE made changes to their side and had a mix of regular starters and those needing minutes.

One of the latter was Matthew Olosunde, who was exposed for the first goal as the ball went down his side and gave away a penalty just before half time.

There is nothing to be gained from piling in on an individual who had a poor night, but as things stand he is PNE's backup right back.

Granted, he was up against Premier League quality for the 45 minutes he was on the pitch, but he must be up to the task, which is also to be competitive which unfortunately he was not on the night.

Ryan Lowe has spoken about needing two more players in before the end of the transfer window and Brad Potts simply cannot play every minute of every game, and moving Alan Browne out to right wing back is not a long term option, one to build on as the season progresses and beyond.

It was the major chink in the armour for Preston on the night who otherwise did well in dealing with the multiple threats that Wolves possess.

They are a top side, take nothing away from the talent of Joao Moutinho, Ruben Neves, Raul Jimenez, Adama Traore and many more.

PNE gave them a really good game and could have easily taken it to penalties. Had they got turned over it could have been a contest that killed their momentum going into Saturday's game against Cardiff City but instead it maintains the run of good performances.

There is plenty to build on for North End and plenty that can be learned from coming up against established international and Premier League stars.

It is the level PNE aspire to be at and that talent would be coming at them every week, rather than just a one off cup game.

Wolves opened the scoring in the game after eight minutes, RayanAit-Nouri getting away down the left hand side and squaring the ball across goal for Jimenez to tap into an empty net.

Just short of the half hour mark it was two, Traore exchanged a one-two with Nelson Semedo inside the PNE box, the latter flicking the ball up for Traore to volley the ball beyond Cornell into the top corner.

Wolves had the chance to extend their lead in first half stoppage time when Hwang Hee Chan was brought down by Olosunde as he looked to get onto a ball played over the top of the defence. The Korean picked himself up to take the spot kick but didn't connect well with his strike with Cornell down to make a smart stop and hold onto it.

North End started the second half as positively as they finished it, scoring just three minutes in. Woodburn picked the ball up high up the pitch and ran across the face of the 18 yard box before pulling his effort left footed back across his body and into the bottom corner.

It got the score back to 2-1 but Preston could not find an eqauliser, going out of the Carabao Cup at the second round.