Paul Huntington's warning after Preston North End's defeat at Derby

How they rated: Our marks out of 10 after Preston’s defeat at Derby

Back-to-back 2-0 defeats on road at Norwich and Derby in the space of four days mean North End are 19th in the early table.

Alex Neil’s options were reduced at Pride Park somewhat with Alan Browne and Tom Clarke joining the suspended Paul Gallagher and longer term absentees Billy Bodin and Sean Maguire in missing out.

But Huntington knows things need to improve and quickly, PNE without a goal or a point on the road this season.

“We’ve got to work even harder and try and put things right,” said Huntington, who captained the side against the Rams with Clarke injured.

“We’ve lost back-to-back away games and it is very early in the season.

“But we need to adjust quickly because you don’t want to be playing catch-up in this division.

“We know the group we’ve got is more than capable but having five or six key members hasn’t helped.

“But we’ve got to get on with it and do better across the board.”

Both games played out in a familiar manner, North End conceding when arguably on top before going on to lose.

At Pride Park Mason Mount opened the scoring seven minutes before the break with Richard Keogh then heading home Mount’s corner on 78 minutes.

“I felt as though first half we shaded it and then switched off and were punished,” Huntington said.

“Getting punished after not taking our chances sums up the last few games for us.

“It’s disappointing when we miss chances and I think that’s maybe affecting us at the other end of the pitch.

“We gave away poor goals and we’ve come away with nothing.

“We switched off for the first one which is preventable at a couple of stages.

“I could have done better with the second one. I’ve flicked the header onto the lad and it has bounced and gone in. It’s a really soft goal.

“Towards the end we got a bit ragged really, trying to chase the game.

“Maybe a bit of inexperience showed at times.”