Preston North End's Matty James believes that if the Lilywhites continue to play like they did at Middlesbrough then they will beat most teams this season.

James summed up the feeling in the North End dressing room after the Boro defeat when he said that the lads were gutted to lose the game at a team who were fighting in the Premier League last season.

"The lads are a bit gutted really because we've bossed the game from start to finish," James said following the 2-0 defeat.

"We've had our chances but the keeper has had a great game, we are gutted with the result but we are really happy with the performance, with the way that we played, with how composed we were, with how we passed the ball so that was a real plus from our point of view.

"If we play like that against any side we beat any side, if we put our chances away then we beat any side we play against. We have got to keep playing like that and see what happens from there."

The Manchester United loanee was philosophical about the decision not to award North End a penalty late in the game, preferring to take the positives from the match and focus on the challenge for the rest of the campaign.

He said: "People make mistakes in games, players make mistakes, we can't blame the referee it is up to the boys to try and get on with it and try and take the next chance that we get.

"We have just got to pass the ball like we did against Middlesbrough, believe in our ability and believe in each other. Be composed on the ball and just keep passing, like was saw at the Riverside, all we did was pass the ball. All we did was pass, pass, pass and we will come out on top in any other game."