The Spurs man was on the score sheet at Wrexham but PNE fell to defeat
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Preston North End midfielder Alfie Devine admitted the Lilywhites were off the pace on Monday night at Wrexham.
The Lilywhites dropped out of the Championship top six with their second defeat in 13 matches. Goals from Nathan Broadhead and Ollie Rathbone, in either half, sent Phil Parkinson’s side into a two-goal lead.
It was Tottenham Hotspur loan man, Devine, who pulled one back with six minutes to play. The 21-year-old’s fourth goal of the campaign couldn’t spark a late comeback, though, and he wasn’t one for covering the performance up post-match.
Speaking to BBC Lancashire, he said: “It's hard to say (if we deserved more) straight after the game, but I think we definitely know we weren't at our best. That's not us, I don't think.
“I think the two goals we conceded, everyone can say that's not good enough to concede goals like that. But then on the flip side of it, I don't think we made their ‘keeper work as much as I think we'd like to.
”He had maybe two or three each half to make and based off the last game as well, we tested him a lot more. So, I think in both boxes there's definitely a lot to work on. There were spells in the first half we played some good stuff.
“The second half we definitely dominated a lot of it, but I think that's always going to be the case with them being one nil up and it's about making those first-half opportunities and spells of play count.
“We had one or two half chances where, on another day, it goes a lot better for us. But second half, when you have that much of the ball and stuff like that, us attacking players and us front players definitely needed to create a little more than what we did.
“I think we've shown this season as always that we never give up on games, whether we're in losing positions or even when we're winning, we still show the same fight, the same mentality going into it.
“I don't think anyone can doubt our mentality, our work rate and stuff like that. Even to the 90th minute and the full-time whistle, we're still trying to do our thing, still fighting, still working hard. That's one thing that this team can be quite proud of, that we definitely always have that.”
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