Paul Heckingbottom praised a “hard-fought” effort as Preston edged past Portsmouth with a 1-0 Championship victory at Deepdale.
Alfie Devine scored a 40th-minute winner – his sixth goal of the season – with a well-directed header from Andrija Vukcevic’s cross.
The win puts Preston back on track for a play-off push, however, they had to dig deep against the visitors, who were unfortunate not to take something out of the game.
The Preston manager said: “It’s a very good three points in the end. I don’t think we’re going to get many pretty games on that pitch but we might get some good ones, some exciting ones, for different reasons.
“That certainly got tense (at times).
“A second goal would have been nice but until the end really, when they were really pushing forward, we never really opened them up to be able to get that second goal – which would have been nice – so we had to defend the box well, which we did, so I was pleased we were able to get the three points in the end.
“It’s going to be difficult for any team to play through teams on (that pitch).
“I think we get the goal from one moment of quality. We prepared for that, we understand that, we changed shape at the start of the game to try and take the pressure off the players.”
Devine’s header looped over Nicolas Schmid and the technique on his header was no surprise to his manager, who felt that it should be a sign of things to come from the 21-year-old.
“He can head it,” Heckingbottom added. “His technique’s good, you might not beat it.
“I don’t think he’s been pushed enough to arrive in the box – one touch finishes – but we want him to get more because his technique’s so good so it’s a waste if he’s not in there.
“It’s not a surprise. We’re pleased with the goal.”
Pompey gave a good account of themselves throughout the match and were generally the better of the two teams over the course of the match, without creating too many clear-cut opportunities.
Head coach John Mousinho said: “I thought we tried to play the right times but it was exactly as you can see from the stands.
“I thought we played well. The pitch was a factor but it wasn’t an excuse. I thought we controlled the game.
“Second half, coming away to Deepdale, I think we only conceded one shot which was at the end and I thought we had chance, after chance, after chance, with pressure on Preston’s goal.”
There was a contentious incident in the first half when Adrian Segecic appeared to be brought down by Jordan Storey inside the box and referee Adam Herczeg awarded a goal-kick, which annoyed the visiting manager.
“It was a penalty,” Mousinho said. “A standard penalty. It’s either a corner or a penalty. I can’t get my head round it to be honest.”
On the winning goal, he added: “(Preston) put the ball in the back of the net at the right time. There weren’t a huge amount of chances (in the game).
“The first half was pretty tight. It just came from a deep throw-in. We didn’t deal with it well enough and the ball ends up in the back of the net.”
