Ryan Lowe immediate reaction as Sheffield Wednesday inflict 0-1 defeat on Preston North End

Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe was left to bemoan a lack of creativity as his side lost 0-1 to Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night.

Marvin Johnson slotted the Owls ahead on 27 minutes and Danny Rohl's side saw the three points over the line in professional fashion. Liam Millar hit the crossbar for PNE in the second half, while substitute Mads Frokjaer slotted wide from the edge of the box.

But, North End were unable to find a way back into the game, despite Wednesday going down to ten men late on - when George Byers was shown a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident with Frokjaer. Post-match, Lowe cut a frustrated figure but wouldn't fault the effort of his team.

"The effort and commitment and everything else was there," said Lowe. "But, we didn't do enough with clear cut chances, picking people out or putting the ball in the right areas. We hit the first man, left centre-backs across the ball and we didn't take enough control on the pitch - to get real quality in there from the balls going in. But the goal is disappointing; we should deal with the first header and then the second header.

"They find themselves clear through on goal, which is disappointing. It wasn't for the lack of trying, but we just didn't have that quality in the final third to make something happen. I cannot fault the lads. If you look at Boxing Day it was a fantastic occasion and then you're coming here, two days later, thinking 'okay, can we put another performance in?' I thought the performance was there, but the result wasn't.

"I think we had 63 per cent possession and 39 crosses. I would give all of that up for two crosses and 15 per cent and a goal, or result. You should at least get a goal I would've thought, having 39 - but Michael Ihiekwe is like a magnet to the ball and he headed everything out. Maybe we were putting the ball on his head too much or not making the runs across the front or behind. I have got to give them a bit of credit as well, because they defended solid and put their bodies on the line - because they have to and they need the points.

"We tried everything really. Jack (Whatmough) had a bang on his knee, then we went to a back three and got another striker on to the pitch. We then brought Mads on and Emil on, so we give it a good go and the lads give it everything out there today. They tried and we made the changes to keep going, to get on the front foot - which we did. We had large amounts of possession and sent 39 crosses into the box. When I think off the top of my head, I'd like to think there were a minimum of five good ones you could score from.

"I think our lads were frustrated by some of the decisions on the pitch, but that is football - it goes your way sometimes and it goes against you sometimes. We just didn't have that little bit of nous or quality in certain areas, which is what I'm probably disappointed about. We will just have to keep doing the right things and working hard. When you put in the work, the results come through as everyone well knows."