| Preston North End 1 v 0 Ipswich Town EFL Championship Saturday, 23rd August 2025 Kick-off 15:00 |  |
Heckingbottom: So Hard-Fought From Our Point of View Saturday, 23rd Aug 2025 22:12 Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom was delighted with what he felt was a hard-fought win for his side, the type of result the Lilywhites weren’t able to achieve last season. Milutin Osmajic’s 11th-minute penalty was enough to see the Lancastrians to their second Championship win of the season following last week’s 2-1 home win against another of the relegated Premier League sides, Leicester City. “One of the things we never did last season was win when, second best is harsh but statistically, people will look and think Ipswich were on top. They were in lots of ways, but we still never won games like that last season,” he said. “I think of Leeds at home when we scored an own goal in the 90th minute, both games against Burnley, both games Sunderland, where I felt we were really strong and should have won. “We only took five points from those five games. Leicester have come down, Ipswich come down, particularly today, Ipswich are a very, very good side. They threw everything at us and we had to stay strong.” Heckinbottom praised his team’s character against a Blues side with one of the division’s highest budgets. “I go back to what I’ve been speaking about in pre-season when I’ve said forget the negativity - why are we talking about what other clubs are spending, this player, that player? Why aren’t we spending? “If that was important, we’d have lost the game today. They’re bringing £40 million off the bench, they’ve got unbelievable talent on the bench who don’t come on the pitch. “If that was important, if that were the be all and end all we’d have lost. Quit moaning about stuff like that and focus on what we can do really well. “We’ve signed good characters, we don’t win that game if we don’t sign good people. I think everyone connected with Preston should be proud of every player there today.” Regarding referee Matthew Donohue’s decision to award a penalty against Town defender Jacob Greaves for fouling Osmajic, Heckingbottom said: “I’ve not watched it back, no one complained so I’m guessing it was a good decision. Probably the only one Matt got right today. “We started the game really well, really aggressively, made them defend. Scored early again, it sort of sets the tone. We protected the goal really well. “I thought we needed half-time and then we came out in the second half really positively again. “You only have to get one or two little things wrong and all of a sudden you’re defending your half, that’s how good they are. “The only moment I felt really edgy was probably the 15 or 20 minutes before I made the substitutions, I felt we needed to get that energy on quickly. “Although they didn’t really open us up and make [Keeper] Dan [Iversen] make big saves, I felt it was coming, I felt the momentum was with them, so we needed the energy on the pitch.” The former Leeds, Barnsley, Sheffield United and Hibs manager added: “I don't think anyone can criticise any player who entered the pitch today. That's why I defend any team who performs like that. “We know there are going to be days where we’re not good enough or we may be the better team like we were last year and not get the three points or suffer defeat. But as long as that mentality and will to win is there then I’ll be fine with the players. “That was so hard-fought from our point of view. Like I said, last week I thought it was end-to-end, they had a lot of possession, but I felt we created all the chances, they equalised, we went after them again and got the win. “Today, fortunately enough, we never let them in and back into the game so the lads deserve credit.”
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