'I had faith' - What Ryan Lowe said straight after Preston North End's 4-1 win over Huddersfield Town

Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe hailed hat-trick hero Milutin Osmajic after Tuesday night’s 4-1 win over Huddersfield Town.

The Lilywhites needed a victory to keep their play-off hopes alive - and had it all to do as the visitors led at the break, through Josh Koroma. But, Will Keane levelled from the penalty spot soon after the restart. And, after being introduced on 76 minutes, Osmajic scored a remarkable, seven minute hat-trick in front of the Alan Kelly Town End.

Post-match, Lowe said: “First half wasn’t us. We were not at the races and at half time, we told them it needed to be better. I had faith and belief, that the lads could come out and perform. We gave them a bit more information and really said to them: ‘Come on, you need to raise it 20 per cent’. The penalty gave us a bit of a lifeline and we get back in it. Then, there is only one team going on to win it. I think it was a sucker-punch for them.

“Milly comes on with Browney, we put Duano over on the right side and Robbie over this side. And yeah, it was all guns blazing wasn’t it? Three fantastic goals from Milly and some lovely passages of play. Some nice passing, some nice assists and fully deserved. Fair play to the boys, the credit goes to them. You get criticised sometimes, for not making changes at the right time, but we are always looking. Emil has been fantastic, he just looked a bit tired tonight.

“Keano then got a second breath and Mads looked tired. Just before we scored, Layton (Stewart) was coming on, to freshen it up and give us that little spark. We then give ourselves back in, slow it down and lo and behold we get another couple of goals. Credit to Milly, that’s what you want from your subs - and Browney, coming on and making an impact. Browney hasn’t trained all week, but we had to get a player of his quality on the pitch.”

On the message at half time, Lowe said: “I just asked for a bit more. We changed, in terms of we wanted the centre-backs to go right in and engage. The centre-forward was a handful, but Liam Lindsay has been unbelievable at doing what he does. He couldn’t quite get to grips with that in the first half and the press wasn’t good enough, at the top end. We said: ‘Come on, let’s set the press right and go faster’ - which we did second half and we caught them out a few times.

“We were on the front foot, because it was a bit flat I think - for both teams - in the first half. Our lads put their bodies on the line and we didn’t really create many chances, but I still felt we could be in control of it. In possession, we just said we need to pass forward and run forward more. And be available and give options for each other. They did that, got the penalty and then the other three goals were us, in a nutshell. So yeah, tactically, but credit goes to the players - they took the instructions on. They probably just needed a bit of tweaking at half time.”