Preston manager Ryan Lowe was proud of the way that his side responded to last Monday’s loss to Blackburn after they swept aside Barnsley 3-1 in the Sky Bet Championship.
Barnsley took the lead in the 17th minute through Aiden Marsh. Victor Adeboyejo managed to get the ball to the by-line with some excellent skill and pulled it back to Marsh who struck it into the net.
Daniel Johnson equalised for Preston in the 23rd minute. Emil Riis Jakobsen laid the ball off to Johnson on the left-hand side and he then drilled the ball into the bottom right corner.
Jakobsen then attempted to beat Walton at his near post after receiving the ball in the box, but the keeper dealt with the shot, tipping the ball wide for a corner.
Johnson (54) gave Preston the lead when he curled the ball across goal with his left foot and it bent away from Walton and into the top corner.
Jakobsen should have doubled Preston’s lead following a quick counterattack. The ball was squared across to Jakobsen, sending him one-on-one, but Walton closed him down and blocked his attempt.
However, Jakobsen made up for his earlier error by grabbing Preston’s third goal of the game in the 74th minute. He ran onto an over-the-top through ball, rounded the keeper and squeezed the ball into the net from a tight angle.
Lowe said: “We have got a group in there that do respond quite well as you have seen.
“It’s not nice to lose two games, and we don’t want it to be three or four. The response was excellent.
“I thought we were sloppy in the first five or 10 minutes; we gave a sloppy goal away.
“The lads said it was out, I’d rather make sure it is out and boot it into the stands. So, disappointed with the start, but again the reaction was fantastic.
“I said to them at half-time, if you raise it by 10 or 20 per cent, you can go and get a few goals and we could have had five or six. That’s what I wanted.
“When you see a team that’s down and out, there is no favours in football, you’ve got to make sure you score as many goals as you can.”
Barnsley interim head coach Martin Devaney was also impressed with how his players performed following the defeat to Blackpool in the previous outing.
He said: “I think it was a big improvement from Tuesday.
“There was a reaction from the players, albeit some fresh faces and also giving an opportunity to some of the lads that have not played this season.
“I thought that they dealt with the situation really well.
“I think in the first half and even the second half, there were some good phases of play, certainly endeavour to run around and win the ball back.
“We could have been a little bit better when we won the ball. It’s small steps but I think it was a big improvement.
On Marsh’s goal Devaney added: “Everyone knows how we all feel about him. It was a good opportunity for him today and obviously for him to get the goal is fantastic.
“It’s about now, consistency in his performances, not just being a one-off.
“We’ve got one game left, if he can get another goal it will be a great help.”
