COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Leaders Coventry defied by 10-man Preston



Daniel Jebbison's equaliser for 10-man Preston North End denied Championship leaders Coventry City their first-ever win at Deepdale.

The Sky Blues, who suffered only their second league loss of the season at Ipswich at the weekend, enjoyed a numerical advantage for more than half of the game after Preston defender Liam Lindsay was sent off six minutes before the break.

Jack Rudoni's shot, which deflected in off North End defender Andrew Hughes, gave Coventry, whose previous 23 visits to Preston had failed to secure a single victory, the lead.

But that advantage lasted only seven minutes as Jebbison connected with a terrific Pol Valentin cross to earn the home side a vital point in their own promotion push.

Frank Lampard's Coventry are the top scorers in all four of the top divisions, but for a long time they looked like being held goalless for a second consecutive match, with Preston goalkeeper Daniel Iversen in fine form.

North End were asking for trouble by playing a high defensive line in the first half and three times Haji Wright, who also missed a point-blank header, was played in behind them, with Iversen denying the USA international on two of those occasions.

The third time, Wright raced clear as Lindsay hesitated, and the defender tugged at the striker's shoulder and then shoved him over to earn the dismissal from referee Ben Toner.

Coventry were denied the lead in the second half by the assistant's flag as half-time substitute Ephron Mason-Clark strayed offside before pulling the ball back for Wright to net, before Victor Torp was foiled by a brilliant flying save from Iversen.

Preston retained a threat, however, with Harrison Armstrong's excellent hooked volley forcing Coventry keeper Carl Rushworth to tip it over the bar.

Iversen was finally beaten as Bobby Thomas joined the Coventry attack, feinted to shoot and slipped the ball sideways to Rudoni, whose scuffed shot was going well wide but struck Hughes to wrong-foot the Danish keeper.

The result looked like a formality but Valentin raced down the right and crossed for Jebbison to stab out his right foot and turn the ball into the roof of the net, a goal that trims Coventry's lead over second-placed Middlesbrough to five points while Preston inch up to fourth.

Coventry manager Frank Lampard told BBC Radio CWR:

"We're obviously frustrated not to win the game -11 against 11 we should be ahead, 11 against 10 we were playing in their half, kept on creating, had a goal disallowed, brought an incredible save from their goalkeeper, opportunity after opportunity on a difficult pitch.

"The lads did pretty much everything they could other than get those extra goals that would have given us the comfort.

"The disappointment was the [Preston] goal because we knew only a lapse from us, or a counter-attack or set-piece, was their way of scoring and we allowed that, and that I can critique.

"You have to credit Preston a bit for the way they kept trying to stay in the game, defended very doggedly and then got their goal."