What Ryan Lowe said straight after Preston North End's loss to Chelsea - as VAR and away faithful discussed

Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe was left to rue some second half defending from his team, but still left Stamford Bridge with pride after the 4-0 loss to Chelsea.

The Lilywhites were dumped out of the FA Cup, having gone in at half time level and equipped themselves admirably against Mauricio Pochettino's star-studded side. Armando Broja headed home the opener, before substitute Thiago Silva doubled the advantage and Raheem Sterling curled in Chelsea's third goal in the space of nine minutes - from a free-kick.

Late in the day, World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez was on hand to prod home a fourth into the empty Preston net - a goal given after a lengthy VAR check. Post-match, Lowe felt the full time score line was somewhat harsh on his players - but admitted Chelsea's class shone through.

"I thought the performance was fantastic, against a top quality team," said Lowe. "I was disappointed with the first goal - letting the cross come in and then getting across your man. The three goals in nine minutes really hurt us. I think for large parts of that game, before the 58th minute when they scored, we were fantastic. It is disappointing to lose and I don't think the result reflects the performance, but the fact is they have good quality players who can put the ball in the back of the net. I thought our lads were excellent; they gave it their all and that's the biggest thing I am pleased about.

"Our lads deserve a lot of credit for going toe-to-toe, especially for 58 minutes before we conceded. When they bring the subs on it just makes it a little bit harder for you, because they have those moments of quality. I have just said to them that the performance, before they scored, we need to take it into Saturday now - for 95 minutes or whatever it may be, to get our season back on track and pick wins up. They have shown that they can do it. I have given the lads a 'well done' - but they are obviously disappointed with the result. I said to them we need to show a bit of pride and passion because you have to when you come to places like this. A few are disappointed in there, because they felt they could've potentially nicked something from this - a draw or whatever it may be.

"But, sometimes you have to hold your hand up to quality and that is what we were undone by today - as well as a couple of our own individual errors. I am pleased and proud of the players as always, for the way they performed for large parts of that game. You look at their players and the way they play; we are now 27 games in and most of that team has been playing week-in-week-out. But, I wanted to make we were strong and resolute here and gave a good account. That is no disrespect to the lads who didn't come on or start; I just wanted a game plan for us to be nice and compact with three flat midfielders, wing-backs and two strikers - with one dropping down. We just felt it'd be important to stay in the game, but that's why we made the changes when we did - because fatigue probably did set in.

"I think the linesman gave offside for the fourth one and that was the first time I've ever experienced VAR. I didn't like it, so I am not too sure how Mauricio deals with it every week. Two goals are disappointing, yeah. The free kick - we dwell on the ball a bit, end up backtracking to get it back and give a foul away. Then, a top international puts it in the top corner, but the other one is obviously disappointing. The second, third and fourth are. If you avoid them, you come away from here with a lot more credit than we probably will get

North End were backed by a sold out away end, which did not stop singing at Stamford Bridge. A total of 6,033 tickets were snapped up by Preston supporters and Lowe was grateful for the terrific backing in the capital.

"I think it was a fantastic occasion and again, we've got to credit them - which we do because they have travelled in their numbers," said Lowe. "For 58 minutes I was thinking if we could send them home even happier, but they've had a fantastic day out. They've come here and they've out-sung the Chelsea supporters. They have really rallied around the lads today, so I want that to continue now in the league. A special mention to them and a big thank you from me and the players and staff."