Preston got back to winning ways on Tuesday night, beating Fulham 2-1 at Deepdale.
North End had lost four games in a row without even scoring a goal before taking on promotion-chasing Fulham, and with injuries still lingering, it looked like being a difficult task.
However, Alex Neil’s men impressed, and took an early lead as Seani Maguire was able to turn from Billy Bodin’s corner and nutmeg goalkeeper Marek Rodak for the opening goal.
Both sides were reduced to 10 men as Denis Odoi and Joe Rafferty were sent off, but Preston got their second after the break, with David Nugent scoring his first goal since returning to Preston.
Aleksandar Mitrovic set up a tense finale with a late deflected strike, but Preston held on for all three points to move back up into the top six.
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Neil will be delighted to have seen his side produce a battling display and beat a major promotion contender. He saw a number of players turn in strong performances, including Brad Potts.
Potts has been heavily criticised this season, having failed to really recapture last season’s form. Some wanted him dropped for the game against Fulham, but Neil kept the faith with him.
Potts turned in arguably his best performance of the season, with a key role in Nugent’s goal having driven forward and then tested Rodak. Statistically, Potts was impressive; no Preston player won more tackles, only Ben Pearson made more interceptions and no starter had a higher completion percentage than Potts.
Preston fans took to Twitter to hail Potts for a ‘fantastic’ display, believing he was much better than recent displays – and hopefully this is the start of a strong run of form for the midfielder.