Manager Graham Westley talks in-depth to the local press after Saturday's defeat against Crawley Town...
“Crawley have showed a level of organisation, desire and hunger; no great football quality but enough organisation, desire and hunger, and if you get those basics in place you can win football matches and we were found wanting in all those regards.
“They showed why they have won back to back promotions; they have showed why they are fourth in the table tonight.
“There is no point bringing the game down to the referee because the reason why they won and we lost was that they worked harder for the result than us.
“The decision on John Welsh at the end was the linesman flagged for a foul against him and no card was given to the player who has assassinated his leg was one of the most incredible decision I have seen given this season.
Speaking to the local press after the game, the gaffer said he can’t blame anyone else for the defeat and the team have to be accounted for: “To talk about the official would be to paper over the cracks of our performance.
Preston North End manager Graham Westley gives his thoughts following the 2-1 defeat against Crawley Town on Saturday.
“I want to be there after 12 games, that was always the agenda and we have shown today that we have got work to do if we are to achieve that objective.
“In terms of our progression we finished last season 15th, we have signed a load of new players, shuffled ourselves into shape and we have progressed into the top half but we are not ready for the top six yet.
He continued: “Last week I was disappointed in the performance at Bury. We looked like a mid-table outfit.
Despite two performances which haven’t pleased the North End boss in the past seven days, there is room for optimism and the team is still a working progress.
“I’m sure we won’t going forward, I’m sure we won’t duck the issue, they are honest men, they have been told the truth and I’m sure they will react to it in the right way.”
“It was disappointing, there is no hiding from that but I think their work rate forced that upon us and rather than up our work rate and take a little bit more responsibility we ducked the issue.
“The amount of times I saw the goalkeeper turn down the back four and the amount of times I saw the back four not really looking for it because they knew there were not going to be passing options in the midfield. We just didn’t work hard enough in possession of the ball to develop options and to create play that was going to take us forward.
“I think we played into their hands and showed a little bit of naivety. We need to be better than that. Our open play today was appalling. There is no hiding away from that. We didn’t work hard enough to give each other options.
“They had two players [Gary Alexander and Kyle McFadzean] who made the difference in the game. One didn’t really let anything happen defensively and the other looked like would make something happen offensively. We didn’t solve either problem, we weren’t creative enough to find a way round that.
Continuing his assessment on today’s proceedings, Westley said: “It was 0-0 at half time and we lost 2-1 in the second half and we conceded two very poor goals.
“We did not put the problem solving into place that you need when you are playing sides that are a bit tougher than the ones you have been playing and I think that is another wake up call for us.”