Alex Neil admitted today’s game wasn’t a pretty sight as North End and Nottingham Forest played out a 0-0 draw at Deepdale.
Chances were few and far between for both sides throughout the game, and after the dizzying heights of just three days before against Norwich City, Alex was honest in his assessment of the quality on show this afternoon.
“It was a hard fought point but It wasn’t a great game” said Alex to iFollowPNE. “We started the first ten minutes really well.”
“They were better towards the end of the first half and they looked like the team that would be more in control of the game at that stage.
“A little bit of quality was always going to be the deciding factor but neither side could come up with that little bit.
“I can’t fault the effort of the players, sometimes you get poor games - I think we’ve been fantastic value this season when we’ve played. I’ve watched Forest against West Brom, and that game was very similar. They’re a hard team to break down and a hard team to beat.
“Even when we did change it - and we made the subs quite early but they didn’t really make an impact on the game.
“I thought both teams were lethargic and it certainly won’t be a game that anybody will be talking about soon.”
Alex acknowledged that the stalemate was also down to how difficult their opponents were to break down, and felt whoever scored the first goal would have had a massive advantage in the game.
“When you consider the type of team Nottingham Forest are, the first goal is always crucial” he added.
“They certainly build from the back and they’re really solid. If you can damage them and score a goal it forces them to come out and be more expansive which leaves us more spaces to play.
"We had three key chances in the first half where if one of them goes in, the game would have been a lot better then it was what we didn’t want to do is be too expansive because I thought we were a little bit slack.
“The lads needs a few days now” continued Alex after North End played out their third game in seven days. “They’ve put so much effort in pretty much everyday to prepare for the games and they certainly deserve the rest and we’ll get them back in Tuesday - ready to go again ahead of Saturday.”
For more reaction from Alex Neil, head to iFollowPNE now.