Joe Rafferty said he and his Preston North End team-mates must continue working hard to inspire a change in fortunes after their 1-0 defeat to Luton Town.
A hard-fought contest saw the Lilywhites edged out by James Collins’ strike seven minutes from time.
The defender told iFollow PNE post-match: “It’s disappointing, we’re all gutted in there. We tried, we huffed and we puffed, but we couldn’t get the win in the end, which is disappointing.
“It was a scrappy game from start to finish really. It was kind of your typical 1-0 game, where you’re just hoping for a little bit of magic, a little bit of quality and to get the win, but obviously it didn’t come and we’re all really disappointed.
Rafferty felt things hadn’t quite gone the Lilywhites’ way, but added that the onus is on him and his team-mates to keep working hard to change their fortunes.
“We just need to win our battles, your individual battles, win your headers, win your tackles, and I thought for the majority of the game, we did that. But games like that, you just need a little bit of quality, a little bit of luck, and it didn’t go for us today.
“I think we didn’t get any [luck]. But you’ve just got to work as hard as you can and turn that around somehow. It’s hard when everything seems to be going against you, but you’ve just got to get out of that mentality and work even harder and try to change your own luck.
“We brought them [Maguire and Barkhuizen]. They’re on to try and get us a goal and they tried their best but today wasn’t our day.”
The defender came back into the side against the Hatters in place of the injured Andrew Hughes and said he will do everything he can to keep his spot in the side.
“I felt alright. I’ve worked hard, while I haven’t been in the side, I’ve been trying to push my way back in. Sepp [van den Berg] has been doing a great job at right back and obviously we’ve got Hughesy and Greg [Cunningham] at left back, so it’s a bit difficult.
“But all I can do is work as hard as I can off the pitch, which I do, work as hard as I can in training, which I do, and hopefully I can get myself back in the team and get a run in the team.
“I got a knock on my back. I was just trying to compete for everything and if there’s a chance where I can win something, I’ll go and win it. It means a lot to me, I took a knock on my back but I’ll be alright.”
Raff felt Ryan Ledson’s return and his all-action style epitomised what the Lilywhites need to do in order to get back to their best.
“I think straightaway you look at Ryan and you know he’s going to give 100 per cent, he’s going to put his head where it hurts.
“I like to think I’d do the same – if there’s a header there to be won, I try my best to win the header, if there’s a tackle there, I try my best to win it. I go out there not scared of getting hurt. I think we just need everyone to have that mentality and a bit of quality at the end and hopefully we can win more matches.”
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