Preston North End 2 - 0 Notts County

Well, where do we start? An amazing performance by Kevin Pilkington, but a pretty mediocre performance by Notts County, as we went down 2-0 to Preston North End today at Deepdale.

The goals were scored by Craig Davies and Joe Garner - a contentious penalty - but were it not for Pilks's sterling performance, it could have been much worse.

Shaun Derry was forced to pick the Notts goalkeeping coach today as Bartosz Bialkowski was unavailable through illness, while regular stand-in Fabian Spiess was still sidelined with a hand injury.

As a result, the 39-year-old took place between the posts, while youth teamer Harry Andrews was on the subs' bench.

In addition, Gareth Roberts took place in the starting XI today, at left-back, while Alan Sheehan shifted into central defence as a replacement for Dean Leacock.

Following Andre Boucaud’s trip on Garner in the very first minute, a dangerous free-kick from Paul Gallagher was pushed clear by Pilks.

At the other end, Jamal Campbell-Ryce burst down the flank before setting up Callum McGregor. The young Scot couldn't find Jack Grealish though.

A few minutes later, McGregor was able to set up Mark Fotheringham, but his shot was then deflected wide for a corner.

On the quarter-hour mark, The ball fell to Davies, who cracked off a volley from 20 yards on the turn. Pilks then pulled off a stunning save to thwart the Preston man, while two minutes later, Enoch Showunmi's thumping header cleared the bar by inches.

Midway through the first half, ex-Forest man Garner got his head onto a cross from John Welsh, but his effort was just off target. The Magpies were then able to launch a quick counter-attack and nearly scored through Grealish, his effort swerving away from goal.

A few minutes before half-time, Fotheringham nearly drew first blood for the away side through a deflected shot, but his effort, which wrong-footed Preston keeper Declan Rudd, went just wide and into the side netting.

After the break, Preston came back with intent, and very nearly scored if not for Welsh defender Roberts's timely last-gasp interventions.

Midway through the second half, North End broke the deadlock. Neil Kilkenny fed the ball to Davies, who was then given the space and time to turn towards goal before sending a shot soaring into the top-right corner. Pilks had no chance with that one.

To make matters worse, the home side doubled their lead within seven minutes. A penalty was gifted to Preston for a foul on Davies, despite the tackle being made outside of the Notts box.

Sadly, when a referee tells you that a red flower is a yellow flower, it's a yellow flower. Garner stepped up and converted the penalty for his 14th goal of the season, as well as giving Preston an insurmountable two-goal lead.

The game finished 2-0, and, well, we're right back in the mire.