First team coach Paul Gallagher was proud of the bravery Preston North End showed in the friendly against Manchester City.
The Lilywhites were beaten 2-0 by the Premier League champions at the Academy Stadium, but Gally felt the squad showed courage and put in a performance to be proud of.
He told iFollow PNE: “I thought it was a great experience for our lads, playing against some of the world’s best players. Look at that back four and the City midfield of Fernandinho and [Riyad] Mahrez.
“I said to the lads go out there and enjoy it, but work hard. At the end, we said to them we’re proud of what you’ve done out there, the disappointing thing is I thought we deserved a goal.
“I thought we played some really good stuff, I thought the boys were brave, it takes a lot of courage to play the way we tried to play against Manchester City.
“We made passes, got the balance right on when to make passes, when to turn it forward to Ched [Evans] and I thought we looked a real threat on transition. We got the ball back and looked to play Barky in and, like I said, the only disappointing thing was we didn’t manage to score.”
City put out a starting XI much more experienced than initially expected, with the likes of Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo back in action after international duty earlier than anticipated.
Gally was pleased players like that were able to face North End, though, as it gives the Lilywhites more to learn from.
“No disrespect to the younger lads at Manchester City, but If I’m coming up against Manchester City I want to play against the best players,” he said.
“You want to test yourself against the best players. I thought the lads stood up and put on a real good show for themselves, and they can hold their heads up high.
“They’ve worked hard, a few of them are tired in there but it’s pre-season, it’s about getting fit. All the lads that came on tried to contribute, worked hard and that’s all you ask for.
“Again, we’re playing against one of the best teams in the world so it’s a great experience for them and I enjoyed watching it. There’s some good stuff we played and now we look forward to Wigan.”
Gally's full interview is available to watch at the top of this page.