Preston North End head coach Frankie McAvoy was left a ‘little bit disappointed’ after only taking a point from his side’s clash with Lee Bowyer’s Birmingham City at St Andrew's.
The Lilywhites had the best of the chances in the second city, but were unable to breach the Blues' goal and despite extending their unbeaten run to eight games, the Scot felt there was more to come from his team.
Speaking to iFollow PNE after the stalemate, he said: “I was a little bit disappointed with it. I thought in the first half that we played within ourselves, although we had the better opportunities and chances.
“I was looking for a bit more from us. We are coming away from home and the games are tough, but I just felt that we didn’t do enough going forward.
“We had a great chance from Josh [Earl], when he went inside and went near post rather than far post; Emil [Riis] had another good opportunity as well, but I just felt over the piece that we didn’t play as well as we could, but that can happen. The least is that if you don’t win a game, make sure you don’t lose it.
“I thought our reaction to the start of the second half was excellent; we were right on the front foot, we were right at them and you hope you get an opportunity and a chance to score a goal, when it becomes a different game.
"The more the game goes on, you hope there is not a mistake or anything that costs you and they had a couple of chances, but there wasn’t a lot in the game.
“Sometimes you become a bit nervous and you don’t want to lose the game and that braveness of getting on the ball and taking the ball deserts you a little bit, but that can happen. We had a couple of opportunities to slide things through and we didn’t do it quick enough. We have to take the point, dust ourselves off and move onto the next game, which is Stoke on Tuesday night.”
He was keen to stress the positives, however, after another solid defensive display, with Daniel Iversen only called into action on two occasions, primarily down to the work of the defensive unit in front of him.
“I felt Jordan, Pat and Hughesy defended really well and that is the pleasing part – another clean sheet,” he continued.
“I had just hoped we would be a bit more clinical with the opportunities and chances we had. I felt like we needed to change it up – sometimes you need a spark and sometimes you can wait too long [to make changes] – but it just wasn’t enough.
“What we need to do is look at it from the positive side. It is another game we have not lost, it’s another clean sheet and when we get opportunities, we have to be clinical.”
Frankie's full interview will be available to watch later on tonight on iFollow PNE.