Johnson's boys in with a shout

Barnsley manager Lee Johnson admitted he was disappointed to not beat high-flying Preston after battling back for a 1-1 draw.

Preston had taken the lead through a smartly finished effort from Joe Garner in the 39th minute The equaliser came when Jabo Ibehre stooped in the box to head home a teasing cross to equalise for the home side10 minutes from time, sending both teams away with a point and the Barnsley boss is now looking up the table rather than down. Johnson said: "In the second half I felt we were the better side. "We had a lot of territory, a lot of possession and we had them on the rack. "Of course I'm disappointed not to get the win, but when you're 1-0 down to a good side like Preston you're happy with a point. "It's not ideal but we know we have to stick in there. We can't forget where we've come from. "When you're falling from second and third place to outside the play-offs then it's a disaster, but there's going to be a sort of spiral effect. "There's going to be a lot of shuffling of positions so it's not ideal, but we're still in with a shout and we'll stay tight and stay together as a group and if we can continue to pick up points then we've got a good chance." Preston manager Simon Grayson said that he felt like his side were the better team over the course of the game. But he gave credit to Barnsley for the way they got back into it and admitted he had expected a tough match due to the run of form that the South Yorkshire side have been on. Grayson said: "Overall we've had the most chances. Looking back at the stats there I don't think Sam Johnstone's had a save to make, whereas we've certainly worked their goalkeeper. "It's fine margins. If any of our chances had gone either side of the keeper, especially in the first half, you get the goals and go on to win the game. "But we had to be resilient and mix it with them because you're coming to a difficult place and they're on a good run, so we'd have taken a draw and that's what we did. "We knew we had to battle and scrap and Barnsley changed their system three times because of, I thought, how dominant we were in terms of how we were playing. "I thought overall it was a good game for both teams. Both teams were trying to win it at the end."