Boss Jim Magilton was pleased with his side's display despite losing 1-0 to Preston at Deepdale. The Town manager played down the injury time incident which saw him sent from the dugout.

Magilton said: “Performance-wise we were grand and the goal was a little bit against the run of play.

"We controlled possession and we played very well. We didn't really work the goalkeeper enough, get enough crosses in or have the belief that we would score a goal, and there lies the difference.

"Had Franny played, with the amount of ball we had, we would have had more cutting edge, but that's a bit like our season; we had a lot of possession but just didn't have the belief we would score a goal."

Magilton's expulsion came after he questioned referee Mark Clattenburg's addition of only three minutes, despite several interruptions in play for injuries and substitutions: "Where did he get three minutes from at the end? We had three subs and two injuries and he's supposed to be the rising star.

"But I'm not going to dwell on that because it would take away from us coming to Deepdale and dominating possession."

Magilton's former Oxford United team-mate Paul Simpson felt the victory was an important one for his Preston side: “It's a massive three points at this stage of the season.

"We got off to a great start with a tremendous header from Ricketts. We wanted a result more than anything. We wanted the performance to go with it but we were nervy.

"We have to give Ipswich credit but we dug in and defended well and we got a massive 1-0 victory.

"Looking at the way results have gone, a lot of teams up at the top would have snapped hands off for a 1-0 victory."

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