Stoke City defeat a tough one to take for Preston North End defender Jordan Storey

He made a return to the side after missing the last game through suspension but was left disappointed as North End were beaten by the Potters.

Will Smallbone and Tyrese Campbell both netted in the second half to sink Ryan Lowe’s side as former boss Alex Neil was victorious in his first visit to Deepdale since being sacked in March 2021.

It meant back to back defeats for PNE after losing late on against Bristol City on Wednesday night, with the Lilywhites now 13th in the table.

Storey felt a clinical edge proved to be the difference on the day with neither side having lots of chances.

He said: “It's a tough one to take but to be fair I don't think we had too many great opportunities. I don't think they had a lot but they punished us when it mattered so it's disappointing.

"We started a bit slow but we gradually got into the game. They didn't have a lot of clear cut opportunities so going in at 0-0 at half time we were sort of content with that.

"We wanted to go and put it right in the second half because we're more than capable of beating opposition like this but unfortunately it didn't go down like that, which is disappointing.

“It was a tough game with not a lot of chances in it, the difference was that they took theirs. We failed to take any chances we did have which wasn't a lot.”

Storey had a few half chances of his own in the game, a header cleared away a yard out and a volley that was blocked with appeals for a penalty.

He said: “I tried to get it across the box and hopefully someone could have poked it in but they had bodies in the way.

"I had two, I had a shot which someone blocked and then the header that was cleared out of the box. It's disappointing but on another day someone comes in and pokes it in but it wasn't our day today. We failed to get anything from our set pieces, they looked to be our most clear cut chances but they defended it well. It was a tough test really.

Of the 24 teams in the Championship, there are only two sides with worse home records than PNE. One of those is Wigan Athletic, with one win and three draws from their seven games and the other is Coventry City, who are currently bottom of the league and spent the start of the season unable to play their home matches. They have won one and lost two of their three total home league games.

It is a worrying statistic and one that Storey knows PNE need to correct.

He said: "Especially when you look at our away record and how well we've done on the road. We've got some great results and kept the back door stuff.

"It's bitterly disappointing that we can't replicate that at home. It was one of our main objectives, to try and make this place an absolute fortress. It's just sort of not happening at the moment.”