Grayson hails season's best

Preston boss Simon Grayson heralded his side's best performance of the season as they moved into the top six.

North End scored twice in five second-half minutes to ease their way to a deserved victory and to send Coventry to their third successive defeat. While Preston had been the better side throughout a dull first half they had lacked the cutting edge to punish Coventry, who never possessed enough threat to harbour hopes of victory. But that changed in the 62nd minute when Preston skipper Tom Clarke moved forward and got on the end of a free-kick from Chris Humphrey to score from close range. Before Coventry had managed to dust themselves down, they conceded again. Joe Garner was brought down in the box by Seb Hines and slotted his fourth goal in as many games from the spot. It meant Grayson could reflect on a job well done. He said: "From start to finish we controlled the game. "We matched energy and tempo that you get from Coventry, but when we got the ball down I thought we played with real purpose. "We looked a constant threat. We had to be patient to wait for our goal, but you have to be. "I thought we controlled the game and got into some good positions and with a bit more care in the final third might have scored earlier. "I said to the players at half-time to keep doing what they were doing because I knew that chances would come and they did - they executed the game-plan well and the attitude and application was spot on. "I think, taken over the whole game, that is as good as we have been this season. "We have had some exceptional spells in games, but from start to finish there was only going to be one winner. "When you come here you know that you will have to deal with a high-energy team, who pass the ball and will take chances." Grayson's opposite number was in no mood to argue with that assessment. Stephen Pressley said: "Credit to Preston. They were very physical and they are a very strong League One side and they deserved their win. "From our point of view we did not play with the strength or the fluency we need. "The confidence of the group looked a little down. After a good run we have had a couple of disappointments and it has affected us, but the only way we are going to change that is by working even harder. "For the seven games unbeaten, we played with real energy and belief, but we lacked that and, to be honest, that surprised me. "We have to learn to deal with expectations and we didn't achieve that. I did not see that coming. We have to sort that out this week."