Iain Hume was disappointed with North End’s finishing following their 2-0 loss to Crewe at Deepdale.
The Lilywhites conceded both goals against the run of play after dominating possession and failing to find the back of the net, despite some clear cut chances early on in the match.
“I think the way we started the game we were extremely disappointed to be down at half time, and we gave them the chance to put their mark on the game and it shouldn’t have been like that,” Hume told PNE.Com in an exclusive interview following the game.
“We hit the bar, we had a couple of chances where we should have put them away, unfortunately we ended up chasing it and we left ourselves vulnerable.
“In fairness to the lad who got their second one, it was a great finish, you can’t blame Dec or the defence for that, he got half a yard and binned it.
“It was just disappointing because we’ve had enough chances to win two games now, myself included and it just wasn’t good enough because we weren’t ruthless.”
Hume compared the loss to Crewe to Preston’s 2-1 victory over Oldham at Deepdale earlier this season.
That night the Lilywhites were well matched by the Latics, but managed to convert the few chances they had to seal a vital win.
“I think if you look at the game, it’s similar to how we played against Oldham [in the league] but in reverse,” Hume said.
“They controlled the game and we had two goals and obviously we nicked the three points and they [Crewe] have done that today.
“I think they’ve had three chances and scored two goals so we’ve just got to move on, I’m not brushing it aside but we’ve got to concentrate on next Saturday now.
“We’ve got to work hard and put this one behind us.”
As the PNE No. 27 mentioned, it wasn’t for a lack of chances that the Lilywhites failed to score, he himself almost opening the scoring with a beautiful curling effort which hit the crossbar.
Speaking of that chance and others, Hume added: “There was that one and Bev had the chance early as well, I can remember six or seven good chances for us and that’s not including half chances.
“So we’ve got to put one of them away and that’s me included, I had a chance towards the end where I’ve allowed the defender to get in and it shouldn’t have happened.
“But you learn from mistakes and move on.”
One bright spot for North End today was the first professional league appearance of youngster Josh Brownhill who replaced Joel Byrom in the heart of the PNE engine room.
And Hume was quick to talk up the teenager and others trying to break into the starting XI plans at Deepdale.
“He’s a good player,” stated Hume.
“Him and Ryan Croasdale, they’re a similar breed, I think they’re one or two years apart but they’re a similar breed and I think we’ve got some bright players coming through.
“Josh, I heard he was really good on Tuesday night and obviously he followed that up today.”