How the Irish fared: Aiden McGeady stays on goal trail as Preston rescue valuable point
McGeady has been in a rich vein of form, but, as so often seems to be the case from the talented but frustrating winger, there was a lack of end-product on Saturday.
That was until his well-taken finish after 52 minutes, an effort that salvaged a point to keep Preston’s slim play-off hopes alive.
“We were a little frustrated with Aiden before he scored,” Preston boss Simon Grayson revealed. “He had a couple of opportunities to shoot and he didn’t take them, so we got the message on for him to get the shot off and it was nice for him to score. That’s what he can do, and why he has been so important for us.”
Saturday represented a rare setback for Horgan and Boyle but Grayson insisted the decision to replace the former Dundalk stars at the interval was purely tactical.
He said: “We looked at the system at half-time and felt we needed to change it around. We went to the 3-4-1-2 and that was no reflection on Andy Boyle and Daryl Horgan, who have had a fantastic week playing for Ireland, but we felt we had to get more pace into the team.”
Elsewhere, Chris Hughton’s Brighton took a significant step towards Premier League football next season as they dug out a 1-0 win at home to Blackburn. Brighton remain a point behind leaders Newcastle but Saturday’s victory took them nine points clear of third-placed Huddersfield after the Terriers lost 1-0 at home to Burton.
Hughton said: “We have seven games left and each individually will be massive. But today I was far more pleased with our win than the other results.”
At the other end of the table, Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich edged a point closer to survival after a 1-1 draw at home to Birmingham.
McCarthy said: “The atmosphere was horrible, we were horrible. Then we rescued it with a great strike and now we are six points clear of the drop so if there is a silver lining I guess that is it.”
In League One, a penalty from Shaun Williams and a goal from Aiden O’Brien helped Millwall to a 3-1 win over Scunthorpe, a result that kept the Lions in the hunt for a play-off spot. Bradford currently occupy a play-off place and they strengthened their prospects of keeping it as a Billy Clarke goal secured a 1-0 win over Walsall.
In League Two, a John O’Sullivan goal helped Carlisle United to a 2-0 win at Yeovil.
