Manager Simon Grayson was proud of his players after his side put on a valiant performance, but were eventually knocked out of the FA Cup.
Former North End manager Billy Davies admitted ‘the better side lost’ and his opposite number and the current PNE boss was pleased with his team’s endeavours despite the final result.
“We said to the players before the game do yourself justice, do the Club justice and put in a performance and we certainly did that tonight,” he told the press after the game.
“Everybody saw the commitment, the effort and the quality and to limit such a strong and powerful team such as Nottingham Forest to the few opportunities they had and to create the number of chances that we had made it an understatement that it was daylight robbery today.
“I have said to them the players ‘I can’t hide my disappointment, let alone what they must feel’, as they were the ones who have dominated a game so much.
“We told them how proud we were of them.
“They made a team at the top end of the Championship hang on for their dear lives. We showed the qualities that you need as a group and we are very proud and I am sure every Preston fan going home will be extremely proud of their team.”
The TV cameras put the Club and the team under scrutiny and they showed up well, with the footage also showing they could, and perhaps should, have had more with some decisions going against them on the night.
“We didn’t get some decisions that we felt could have gone our way,” continued the Lilywhites’ chief. “If you are going to lose a game you want to go down with a fight and we certainly did that tonight.
“We had some great opportunities and it looked like there was only one team that was going to score in the second half, but unfortunately we didn’t.
“We competed really well; we showed great character and played some good stuff and showed every attribute needed to be successful and now we have 18 league games to try and get to where we want to get to.
“We have everything to play for and hopefully we can go on a run that will really get us going. We have a good squad here and have players that can really affect games and hopefully we can really get it going for the rest of the season.
“The sole aim at the start of the season was to get promoted. The Cup run has been a nice distraction and when you do face these teams you want to test yourselves and we have come out with flying colours in all our games against Championship sides.
“We have had a taste for it, but we now have to go back to our bread and butter against Tranmere and show the true character needed to keep our run going and get points in the league.”