Preston earned a 1-1 draw at Deepdale against English leaders QPR but are still 11 points from safety, whereas the visitor's are five points clear at the summit of the English Championship. Boss Phil Brown, who is still searching for his first win with Preston, said: "I'm pleased with the performance, I guess, but we're in the business of winning and we've not done that again.

"The lads have got the spirit, but they seem to be playing inhibited football due to the position we're in.

"We've definitely got something going here, but I need the players to just bring their best football to the table.

"QPR will probably go up as champions so we knew we'd have to try to match them, and although I am happy with a point, I haven't got that win yet - a win that'll see me smiling again."

QPR manager Neil Warnock conceded that the final result was a fair reflection of the match.

Warnock said: "I have got no complaints, that's a very good point in the end.

"I was a bit disappointed that maybe we should have scored more than one in the first half and possibly killed them off, but let's give Preston credit, they took their chance well and we had to produce some great defending towards the end.

"This proves that there's no easy games - look at Nottingham Forest losing against Scunthorpe the other night - that's the kind of league it is.

"We'll keep ticking along though, that's 14 games to go now."