Preston turned in a strong performance to beat Celtic 1-0 in their third pre-season game of the summer.
North End had beaten Bamber Bridge 8-3 before drawing 1-1 at St Johnstone in midweek, and were looking to spring something of a shock at Parkhead.
Franke McAvoy’s men were by far the better side, creating some great opening in the first half as Brad Potts and Ched Evans went close to scoring.
North End continued to press in the second half, with Evans firing over and Emil Riis forcing a smart save from Scott Bain before the winner came.
Bain was ruled to have brought down Seani Maguire inside the penalty area, and Ben Whiteman stepped up to score his second goal in two games up in Scotland.
Celtic pushed for a leveller but couldn’t find one, with North End leaving with a victory that doesn’t mean all that much in the grand scheme of things but will boost morale.
After the game, pundits John Hartson and Chris Sutton both spoke glowingly about Preston, praising their performance in Glasgow.
Speaking on Premier Sports (17/07, 7:25pm), Hartson suggested that North End looked ahead of Celtic in their pre-season preparations despite actually starting later than the Bhoys.
“I think Preston looked ahead of Celtic,” said Hartson. “I thought they were quicker to the second ball, they created more opportunities to score than Celtic,” he added.
Sutton added that “Preston were streetwise and too good for Celtic, especially the back line”, with North End earning plaudits mere days before Celtic face Midtjylland in the Champions League.