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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Ricky Charlesworth

Preston to refund 600 travelling fans as manager apologises for "not acceptable" defeat

Preston North End will reimburse the 600 travelling fans who watched their side lose 4-0 at Luton on Wednesday.

North End were put to the sword at Kenilworth Road as Luton romped to a win that saw them move fifth.

As for Ryan Lowe's side, they remain firmly mid-table in 14th place in the Championship - eight points shy of the play-off places.

Manager Lowe lambasted the performance and a statement released on Thursday on the club's website confirmed those travelling supporters will get their money back.

Preston company director Peter Ridsdale said: "Following a conversation I had with our manager Ryan Lowe immediately after last night’s match, the club suggested that on this occasion it was appropriate to offer a refund of the ticket price to those supporters from Preston North End who travelled to Kenilworth Road for the Championship fixture last night.

What do you make of this gesture? Let us know in the comments

"Whilst this is something that we would not ordinarily consider, we do believe that for just over 600 supporters to travel on a wet Wednesday night was amazing and sadly the performance on the field was not acceptable.

"Supporters work long hours and give up their hard earned money to watch our team. We really appreciate your loyalty and despite the score line you gave your vocal support right to the end.

"It is now time for us all to regroup and come back refreshed for the remaining eight games of the season."

Lowe was heavily critical of his side post-match, following the biggest loss since he was appointed in December, saying: "We weren't good enough from start to finish.

"I can only apologise and we'll reimburse the fans their money back, their hard-earned money as they have travelled down on a cold Wednesday night when they might have been better staying in with their feet up.

"The performance was nowhere near the levels of what I expect as a Preston North End manager."

Luke Berry opened the scoring for Nathan Jones' side before Fred Onyedinma doubled the lead. Berry struck again to make it 3-0 before the break and an own goal by Bambo Diaby completed the rout.

Skipper Alan Browne agreed with his manager and blasted the performance.

"I feel sorry for the supporters to be honest. It was absolutely shocking from us," Browne told the BBC.

"It was an absolute disgrace to this club and the badge. To lose 4-0 like that is not acceptable. I don't know what else to say really. It's going to take some time to get over - we showed nothing in the game. They didn't do anything for their goals, we just gifted it to them. We showed a lack of heart, desire and fight.

"Some games you can accept losing, but there's a way in which you lose games and this wasn't one of them. It should never happen again at this club."

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