Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson admits late Preston North End equaliser was tough to take

Bristol City boss Nigel Pearson has admitted his frustration that his side weren’t able to beat Preston North End over the weekend. The Robins were forced to settle for a point after a 1-1 draw at Ashton Gate.

The hosts took the lead just after half-time through attacker Sam Bell. However, they weren’t able to double their lead and the visitors levelled on 86 minutes through new striker signing Will Keane.

Preston had 54% possession and managed to have three shots on target compared to Bristol City’s two. Ryan Lowe was the happier of the two managers after the match though.

Pearson told his club website: “To concede late on is tough but we’ll get over it. It was a difficult game in which we weren’t able to make the most of our opportunities that we had. It was frustrating but a reminder that it is a tough league.”

He added: “We had to work hard to get openings because they (Preston) came with a plan of denying us space in behind. That is something that we will have to solve on more occasions this year because people recognise that we have pace to hurt them. We showed patience at time but it was a bit of a frustrating day.

“We couldn’t quite get the rhythm we needed to once we had gone ahead to get some more distance between us. In some ways, it’s a disappointing outcome.”

Preston will be satisfied with their draw and gave their travelling fans something to take back to Lancashire. They are back in action on Tuesday night in the Carabao Cup at home to League Two side Salford City.

Keane, who joined from Wigan Athletic last month, has got his first goal for the Lilywhites under his belt early which is a big confidence boost for him. The former Manchester United man scored 12 goals last term for the Latics as they were relegated to League One.