The players show me that character every day

Last updated : 30 October 2006 By Tony Scholes
Preston had been unbeaten since the first midweek of the season and Paul Simpson accepted that it wouldn't go on for ever but he did believe his side deserved something from the game. “We knew tat the unbeaten run was going to come to an end at some point, but we are just disappointed the way it came about,” he said after the game.

After they went in front Burnley equalised within 48 seconds of the restart. so it was hard to work out his reasoning when he added, “We worked hard in the second half to get ourselves ahead and then instead of killing the game off and shutting up shop we were still going for the third goal and we have allowed Sinclair to get two crosses into the area [he crossed once]. For the second one St. Ledger has got himself into a great defensive position but instead of heading it back where it came from he has got his body round it somehow and he's headed it into the top corner.

“We had done enough to get ourselves into the lead and a true reflection of the game would have been a draw. Everyone is disappointed, like I said we knew that the unbeaten run was going to come to an end, obviously it is not pleasant to go and lose at your local rivals in a derby, but that is football and now we have to dust ourselves down and start showing again that we are a good side.”

Steve Cotterill certainly saw the game the right way, that it was a game the Clarets without doubt deserved to win. “I just thought tonight that God shone down on us because we deserved that,” Cotterill said.

“The players show me that character every day, so I am not surprised that we have come back and we got our just rewards in the end. We were pushing for a second goal and got caught a few minutes later and being 2-1 down I didn't think was justified, but in the end I thought we were worth our win.”

The happy Burnley manager added: “It was a good team performance in a good game. I thought both sets of fans were fantastic as well and it ended up making a good local derby that sounded more like a cup tie and I'm just delighted that in the end we came out on top.”

Speaking about the performance he said: “For twenty-five minutes at the start of the second half we played some excellent football and that's why I say it would have been a travesty if we had lost the game. The biggest disappointment was that we didn't score that second goal when we had a terrific series of passes.

“God knows how many passes there were but to get that many together on a pitch is unbelievable and if we had scored from then it wouldn't have been bettered here in my time.”

It's on to the next game now at Luton. “Tonight was a challenge and now we have another. I'll enjoy the weekend first without my heart raising a beat, that will make a change.”