Source: Team_Talk
Ferguson upbeat despite defeat
The visitors dominated the first period, but fell behind to Chris Killen's 29th-minute header.[LNB]Boro came into the game more after the break, yet Preston hit the post through Ross Wallace and saw strong appeals for a penalty waved away before Jonathan Franks added the Teessiders' second late on.[LNB]North End are now without a victory in six away games, but Ferguson said: "We deserved to win. I thought we were excellent.[LNB]"I'd rather play badly and win, obviously, but I thought my players' performance was top-drawer.[LNB]"I can't really have any complaints about any of my team and I've just said to them in the dressing room, if we can play to that standard we've got a good chance of winning most of the seven games we have left.[LNB]"But it's still no consolation, it's another game we've lost."[LNB]The Lilywhites boss added: "I felt for a large part of the game we dominated. But we just didn't get the goal and then we've lost a really sloppy goal which has given them something to hang on to.[LNB]"That's the main disappointment of the night, because it's a soft goal for me and we're conceding far too many soft goals."[LNB]When asked about his side's second-half penalty claim, which came after Darren Carter had gone down under a challenge from Stephen McManus, Ferguson replied: "It doesn't matter. The referee hasn't given it.[LNB]"It looks to me as though he was going to blow his whistle. I asked him about it and he said the linesman was in a better position, but the referee's five yards away and the linesman is 35 yards away.[LNB]"I think it's a penalty, but he hasn't given it."[LNB]Middlesbrough boss Gordon Strachan was relieved to come away with three points after seeing his squad decimated by a combination of injuries and a virus sweeping the club.[LNB]"We've had a traumatic couple of days with injuries and illness and the team got changed this morning three or four times," he said.[LNB]"The victory had nothing to do with football really, but a lot to do with drive, determination and a will not to get beat.[LNB]"Preston must feel unfortunate, but it's the only time I can say we've had a real bit of luck.[LNB]"It was a team that was thrown together and we didn't get going at all, but I thought the three substitutes (Kyle Naughton, Andrew Taylor and Leroy Lita) did very well for us."[LNB][LNB]
