PNE captain spoke to the media after defeat at West Brom
Preston North End captain Ben Whiteman was gutted to leave The Hawthorns empty handed given the team’s performance.
Fine finishes from Mikey Johnston and Isaac Price, on 40 and 62 minutes respectively, sent the Baggies into a two-goal lead. PNE loan star Harrison Armstrong had seen a strong first half penalty appeal turned down, while Milutin Osmajic raced through one-on-one - only to be denied by Josh Griffiths.
The visitors pulled one back with 12 minutes to play through substitute Michael Smith but Albion held out, with Griffiths producing another smart save to keep out Daniel Jebbison in the final seconds. Whiteman played the 90 minutes and couldn’t help but take positives away.
“I thought we were good,” said Whiteman. “There's ways to lose football matches and you're not going to win every game, but I thought we were excellent throughout the game. Last half-an-hour there was one team pushing. I know they're defending their lead, but I thought we were really good.
“It should’ve been a penalty. I don't know what more you can say about it. I thought it was a foul in the build-up (to the second goal) as well on myself. But again, I don't want to make it a sob story. We've got a game Tuesday now. Performance-wise we were good, but we haven't got the result.”
The number four has spoken publicly a few times about the team’s improvement this season, and Whiteman felt this was another example in terms of the level North End showed.
“I think you can see it,” Whiteman told the Lancashire Post. “We've got that athleticism; I’ve mentioned that numerous times. We needed that, probably since the time I've been here. You look at the two wide players today... Andy's rapid, Thierry's rapid, you've got Jebbo who comes on, rapid. Smudge, that experience, comes on.
“Dobbo in the pockets with Alfie Devine... proper players. Harrison's going to be a top-quality player. He's going to be a Premier League player. Then you've got the old guard that are still there helping them out. As I mentioned before, proper team and one that the fans, especially at home, have looked forward to (watching.)”
Preston were backed by two thousand travelling fans on Saturday, who made themselves heard and stuck with the team until the final whistle. Despite leaving empty handed, there was recognition for PNE’s display come full-time - Whiteman can feel a harmony around the club this season.
“Yeah, massively,” said Whiteman. “It's been a tough two or three years. You look at the way the football club was; fair play to the manager. Definitely, behind the scenes as well, they've made some massive strides and brought the help that we needed. We've got honest lads in there as well.
“I know sometimes it might not have looked like it in the past, but we've got some proper lads there who were hurting a couple of seasons ago, even last season. We needed that help, we've got it and the lads have been fantastic. Where we are now as a football club, all credit to the staff and people behind the scenes because they’ve made it that way.”
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