Irvine - Preston paid the price

Irvine: Frustrated by defeat

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Preston manager Alan Irvine believes his side paid the price for failing to take their chances in Monday night's defeat to Newcastle.

The Magpies returned to the top of the Championship as Kevin Nolan's 74th minute goal at Deepdale proved enough to win a tight encounter.

Preston had their opportunities, but strikers Neil Mellor and Chris Brown were both guilty of missing chances.

Irvine believes the defeat was harsh on Preston, but acknowledges that his players need to improve in front of goal.

"I don't think we should have lost the game, certainly," he told Sky Sports 1.

"I thought that we matched Newcastle for many parts of the game. I felt as if we had some good chances to score ourselves.

Nolan quality

"But we didn't take our chances and Kevin Nolan finished his chance, which was maybe not even that much of a chance, very well.

"We have seen him do that many times before, he has got that kind of quality and it was something we were aware about before the game, and he has popped up again."

Preston have now failed to score in three of their last six matches and Irvine does not want a lack of goals to become an issue.

Asked if he was concerned by his misfiring side, he said: "It can become a problem.

"We have got some good finishers at the club and I expect them to score goals in the future without any question.

"We didn't get them tonight and we will keep on working at it. We do a lot of work on our finishing and we will keep on doing that."