Preston boss delivers Sunderland verdit and what frustrated him after side's defeat

Preston boss Ryan Lowe was frustrated with his side’s reaction after going a goal behind against Sunderland as they were beaten 3-0 at Deepdale.

Manchester United loanee Amad opened the scoring with an excellent strike in the 54th minute, before two quickfire goals from Alex Pritchard and Jack Clarke gave the visitors a commanding lead.

Lowe had named an attacking line-up and was pleased with how his side coped against Sunderland playmakers Amad, Clarke and Patrick Roberts in the first half.

Still, his side ended the season having taken just one point from their last five matches (following defeats against Millwall, Swansea and Sheffield United), after being within touching distance of the play-offs.

“I thought we were very good in the first half, there was some good football,” said Lowe after the match. “We had a good couple of chances to go in 1-0.

“In the second half, to be fair, they showed us a lot of respect and changed shape and matched us up.

"The first goal is a little bit scruffy from our behalf, it's come out to Ali (McCann) and he's punched it back in and it's come out to Diallo. He's got that quality. I thought we kept him quiet in the first half, him and Clarke, and Roberts, but sometimes that isn't always the case. What I'm frustrated about is when we concede, we concede quickly. It happened in the last game, when we concede we concede quickly.

"We gave it a good go, we've given everything. It's not been today, Sheffield United or even Swansea for that matter that has cost us a chance to get into the play-offs. It's six points that should have come from games earlier on in the season and then who knows. It's small progress but we want to go better and we'll have to use that for our motivation for next season.”

Sunderland’s win means they have extended their season by setting up a two-legged play-off semi-final against Luton.

The first leg will be played at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, May 13 (5:30pm kick-off).