Preston North End’s impressive run continued as they made it four straight wins in all competitions with a 2-1 victory over north west neighbours Bury in a feisty affair at Gigg Lane.
In front of a near 3,000 away following, 52% of the overall crowd, Akpo Sodje gave the Lilywhites the lead midway through the first half, before Shane Cansdell-Sherriff scored his first for the Club in the second half.
However, manager Graham Westley was far from impressed, and was disappointed with his team’s display despite their first league win on the road this season.
Speaking pitch side to the local press after the game, the gaffer said: “It was a disappointing display throughout the 90 minutes, I was disappointed with our ball retention in the first half, we didn’t build up our play and create enough chances.
“We won the game from two set plays which is a positive, we work hard make sure we are organised from set plays because they make a big difference to you over the course of a season.
“It was good to score from two set plays but equally as disappointing to concede from one. We haven’t kept enough clean sheets this season and there is a lot of work to do.
“In the 87th minute Bury had their first shot of the game, we had a certain amount of control over the game but we were not threatening enough and did enough with possession. We have picked up all three points but overall I am disappointed with the performance.
“We are still at a stage of evolution were a lot of new players are coming together, there is going to be days were our form isn’t right or combinations are not right.
“You have to work hard together to get through those situations and keep your points intact. We keep our points intact today which is good but I am under no illusions that we need to be much better than that.”
On a glorious day in Greater Manchester, the boss made nine changes from Tuesday night’s win at Carlisle United, with the likes of Akpo Sodje, Nicky Wroe and Thorsten Stuckmann coming back into the side.
Former Sheffield Wednesday striker Sodje, has made an immediate impact since his arrival at the Club, and like Australian defender Bailey Wright both played a key part in the Lilywhites’ win this afternoon.
Reflecting on the pair’s performance, Westley concluded that he is happy there is now a seven day gap until their next league game against Crawley Town at Deepdale, and they can buckle down on the training ground.
“It doesn’t do you any harm to be hitting the back of the net; it is the overall contribution from the players that matters.
“I am sure he knows he can be doing more for the team all round but the goals Akpo [Sodje] is scoring at the moment are proving to be important.
“Bailey’s [Wright] contribution to the team is never less than 100%, he is a decisive defender and he wants to play on the front foot which is something that I like from defenders.
“For a young man he shows a great deal of maturity but he is a part of a back four which has conceded again today and we are not posting clean sheets and we need to sort that out.
“We need this week coming up, it has been consistently Saturday, Tuesday since the season began and we need this week to get ourselves back down to earth, have a good talk and take a look at our organisation.
“We want to really tide up, work on our fitness so it is an important week and I think you could see we need it by the performance today.”