Monday 24 November 2014 10:55, UK
Preston boss Simon Grayson hailed loan recruit Callum Robinson's display after halting Bristol City's unbeaten home record with a 1-0 win.
The 19-year-old's simple tap-in from Chris Humphrey's cross in the 28th minute ended Preston's run of three successive league defeats and inflicted on City their first home defeat since February. Grayson said: "When you sign academy players they're not renowned for doing the ugly side of the game. "But Callum has a fantastic attitude and work-rate. "We are very grateful to Aston Villa for allowing us to have him because he is a fantastic lad to work with. "The players worked really hard in training during the week, particularly on closing down opponents, which we haven't been doing as well as we like in recent games. "We knew we had to be at it against the leaders because they have some fantastic players. "It was a very good away performance and a very big result for us after a difficult period." Robinson's decisive finish ended a fine move begun by former City midfielder Neil Kilkenny. Joe Garner found Humphrey on the right and his perfect low cross created an unmissable opportunity. City should have been ahead by then. Aaron Wilbraham ran on to Luke Freeman's eighth-minute pass and rounded goalkeeper Thorsten Stuckmann only to shoot wide. The second half saw Keiran Agard miss an equally good chance for the hosts and Aden Flint went close with a header, while substitute Kevin Davies should have made it 2-0 to Preston when shooting tamely at home goalkeeper Frank Fielding in the 66th minute. City boss Steve Cotterill said: "We haven't deserved to lose either of our last two games. "I am as proud of my players after those defeats as I was before them. "We are still in a great position and where we want to be, so no one inside the camp will be anything but positive. "For a period we got sucked into a long ball game that Preston are better at. "But in the second half we dominated possession, pinned them in, and only failed to win because we didn't take our chances. "We will learn from the game and move on. We started it really well with some excellent passing, but lost concentration for the goal and it was nip and tuck from then on." Neither goalkeeper had many testing saves to make as both defences emerged with honours from a tight encounter, with the result in doubt until the final whistle as City applied heavy second-half pressure. Preston lost leading marksman Garner with a shin injury at half-time, but Grayson did not think the problem was too serious. Breaking news, transfer gossip, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - delivered direct to your mobile. Sign up for Sky Sports Alerts