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Preston announce two new signings in 70th minute then go on to suffer fourth league defeat

Preston North End announce two new signings in the 70th minute then disappointment as they go on to suffer their fourth league defeat.

The Lilywhites remain without a point in the Championship for the 2026/27 season, Scott Twine, Lisav Eissat and Dominic Ballard on the scoresheet to give the Robins a 3-1 win. Caleb Wiley got what ended up being a consolation for Preston.

After 4 games played, Bristol City are 5th with 7 points from 4 games while Preston are bottom, more pressure on Paul Heckingbottom.

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SHORTENED HIGHLIGHTS:

Mid-way through the second half, Preston confirmed the signing of Liam Gibbs from Norwich City on a season-long loan and striker Johnny Kenny on a permanent deal from Celtic.

On Kenny, Paul Heckingbottom said, as per the club website: “He’s a player who likes to play on the last line and make runs in behind; he’s a sharp player.

“He’s lively in the box and will look to get shots off, left foot, right foot. He works hard for the team. We need to do a lot of work with him tactically in terms of how we’re going to use him but that’s the exciting bit now.”

On Gibbs, he told the club’s media: “He’s a young boy but has a lot of experience in this league.

“He’s a good athlete and a technical player; he’s been used in a number of positions at Norwich, but I see him as a central midfielder.

“He’s got know-how, experience in the league, and has shown real quality over the past few years.”

Preston’s Paul Heckingbottom said, as per Sky Sports:

“It’s always about results. You’ve heard me say over and over again that it’s determined in both boxes and there’s a great example of that today.

“We created a lot of chances and didn’t take them and they did. Simple. I felt we should’ve been in front at half time. We’re not.

“We started the second half really well, missed some more chances and then scored a goal and then [a] set play, always crucial, and a mistake.

“While they were dangerous and Bristol [City] always carry a threat, throughout the last few years, they’ve always been a really good counter-attacking team in transition, we carried equally as much threat if not more.

“I thought we lost our way a bit towards the end in terms of energy when we were trying to make subs. We still huffed and puffed and still hit the post but I didn’t think we carried the same threat.”

Bristol City’s Michael Skubala:

“Away games in the Championship are always tough. [Those games] can be on a knife edge. They probably had the better first half. We scored a good breakaway goal in transition; we look threatening in transition at the moment.

“We changed shape at half-time and I think the subs that came on really affected the game in a positive way and the goals were good. All in all, a good performance, but that’s what it’s sometimes like in the Championship.

“The [Preston] goal was outside the box. We didn’t start the second half as well as we’d have wanted because we’d actually changed shape because we pressed in the way we wanted but didn’t give it enough time to grow.

“But we put the subs on and they punched back and that’s important for me, that if it’s one-all, we make positive changes to try and win the game.”

Here’s the social media reaction after Preston announce two new signings in 70th minute then go on to suffer a fourth league defeat…

@Belch_9: Get gone Heckingbottom. You have had more than enough time now. Playing Lindsey over Offiah and Storey alone is enough. Cant defend, far to easy to beat. Embarrassing

@lewisjjohnson7: I’d love to see how that one gets turned on Hecky. Played really well until Lindsay forgot how to play football yet again #pnefc

@iampav: Horrible to see a performance like that undone. For all our failings at the top end, that defending is losing us points. Some really good performances around the pitch. Mills and Wiley were excellent and clearly lifted those around them. We’re fire fighting now though. Gutted.

@jimmmmmyhall: Miles better performance, all the new signings look lively but we’re never going to win a game with Lindsey in our back line.

@JoeyO94: If you’ve got any ounce of decency you will walk tonight @pheckingbottom you’ve embarrassed this club for too long

@JianniCave: If the game is determined in both boxes, why constantly choose an out of form Liam Lindsay to defend ours, when Storey & Offiah are available? #pnefc

@SamY4t35: A real frustrating one, 70 minutes of genuinely entertaining football for the first time in months, followed by 3 of the sloppiest goals I’ve ever seen. Didn’t feel like we deserved a 3-1 loss, but it’s still poor. Concerning times

@PNEBenHD: Thought we actually played quite well tonight too – Mills & Wiley both looked sharp. Given Hecky plenty of leeway, but tonight is on him. Subs totally killed the momentum & why on earth is he still picking Lindsay? Can’t wrap my head around it #pnefc

@MikeCookson1: Bristol City are everything we’re not, even when they’re off it they’ve got forwards who can actually score goals and they have defenders who can defend. We’ve not signed anywhere near the players we need. Mills looks like a player but in short, we’re fucked.

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