Preston 2 – 1 Coventry

Emil Riis’ strike saw Preston fight back to end their seven-match Championship winless streak with a 2-1 victory against play-off chasers Coventry.

The visitors had not beaten Preston since 2013 and not triumphed at Deepdale for 21 years and although they ultimately failed to change that record, Tyler Walker’s strike on the stroke of half-time had put them on course to do so.

But Patrick Bauer’s header and Riis’ neat finish turned the tables after the break and gave the Lilywhites a first league win since August.

It was Preston, the team lingering in the lower reaches of the Championship, that had the first chance of note with- Simon Moore turning Riis’ header away from danger.

But Coventry were bright, no one more so than Callum O’Hare, who buzzed away despite being fouled to cross for Viktor Gyokeres, who had his close-range volley blocked.

Gustavo Hamer then had Preston ‘keeper Daniel Iversen scrambling to save at his near post from a wicked corner with a whipped delivery that was reminiscent of a certain David Beckham during his early-career loan spell at Deepdale.

The Sky Blues fans were out-singing their Preston counterparts but the home faithful perked up after some neat footwork by Josh Earl, who could not match it with his curling finish.

Any building optimism for the hosts was quelled just before half-time however as Walker’s firm hit following excellent work by O’Hare found the back of the net.

Walker looked to have stumbled and missed his opportunity but was allowed time to recover his balance and get a powerful shot away, although only sloppy defending allowed O’Hare the opportunity to feed him in the first place.

Preston were booed off at half-time but moved the ball with more purpose at the start of the second half, as a couple of quick corners and a deflected Riis shot signalling their intentions.

After 61 minutes, Preston got the equaliser they deserved. Staying up after a corner, centre-back Bauer’s excellently directed header from Ben Whiteman’s cross got exactly what it deserved, in off the far post.

Captain Alan Browne then nodded one of his own inches off target but the comeback was complete after 69 minutes when Riis cut onto his right foot in the penalty box and slammed a piledriver past the flailing right hand of Moore and into the roof of the net.

It was a remarkable spell of second-half action and Preston almost added a third in injury-time when Tom Barkhuizen burst forward, pulled it back for Whiteman, who fed Brad Potts but his shot was blocked.

What the managers said…

Preston’s Frankie McAvoy: « I’m absolutely delighted, we knew it was a big game, it’s been a big week for us as a club. The second half performance was probably as good as we have performed during my tenure here and I’m really pleased with that.

« I spoke to them at half-time and said we need to get more aggressive and in their faces and I thought the players showed the attitude, hunger and desire that I know they have, they showed that in abundance. »

Coventry’s Mark Robins: « I’m frustrated because we had done pretty well in the first half and they had not really threatened too much. There was a save from a corner but we didn’t win enough first contacts all game and that came home to roost in the second half. They ended up getting on top and I needed to change it earlier, I didn’t, and they got on top in the game.

« Then we did what we normally do, we had a bit of a wobble and didn’t keep the ball well enough and that was the reason they started to push and grew in confidence and grew into the game and that was the disappointing thing for me. I have take responsibility for things I don’t do and really I should have acted a little bit quicker because you could see it was building but ultimately if you get it out and be better with the ball you can really hurt them but that didn’t happen tonight. »