Match reaction: PNE vs Southampton.

Various reactions to the 3-1 victory over Southampton on Monday.

Paul Simpson-Preston`s manager was quick to praise two of his players after Monday`s win. Firstly Neil Mellor who opened his goal scoring account for North End. Simpson has backed Mellor to become a goal scoring sensation at Deepdale. He also added, “He`s a proper goal scorer, if we can get balls in the box he will get on the end of them.

Simpson also praised the efforts of Lonergan, who won man of the match. He said that Lonergan`s performance tonight, undermined his decision to keep him in the team. “the only way we won was because of Andy”. Simpson also slated the media, “We needed that result. It was a massive three points. All these experts had written us off, saying we didn`t have a chance.”

Opponents manager-George Burley was bewildered after he saw his side dominant but concede three times and lose at Deepdale. ‘I don’t think I have ever seen a game dominated by the away team as much as we did in the first half.”, ‘We can take a lot of positives from this because we showed what a good side we are. But we have got to finish teams off when we are on top like that.”

Burley also acknowledged the efforts of Lonergan and said he probably cost Southampton the match.

Preston fans-The fans were over the moon with the result, which propels the team back into the play offs with a game in hand over 3rd and 4th. Also, with the top two playing at the weekend, it makes the table look very promising with Preston only playing one of the top 10 in their next 11 fixtures. It was also nice to see Mellor score and prove his critics wrong about his weight.