Preston have made a decent start to the season under new boss Alex Neil. A win over Reading cemented that good start as Jordan Hugill’s first-half strike gave the Lancashire club all three points.

The Lilywhites have won four of their last five meetings with the Royals and have lost just one of their last 13 home league games.

Neil’s side missed a hatful of chances in a dominant display which saw them really flex their muscles against a Reading side who haven’t got going this season.

The home side had the lead on the 22^nd minute when Tom Barkhuizen’s cross from the left was superbly attacked by Sean Maguire, whose header put it on a plate for Hugill to control on his chest before scoring from six yards out.

On the Lilywhites performance Alex Neil commented: “I’m extremely satisfied. I thought we were the better side and created numerous opportunities. The only disappointment is that it finished 1-0. If it had been three or four nobody could have had any complaints.

“It was an incredible effort from the lads. I thought they were top, top drawer. The goal was one of many top moves we had and it’s a shame we didn’t convert the other ones. We worked extremely hard, our shape was excellent and we had a lot of individual great performances. There wasn’t a player on the pitch who didn’t contribute and do really well for us.”

Meanwhile Reading boss Jaap Stam said: “If you play against a side like Preston you have to bring everything to the game including physique, pace, aggressiveness. Hopefully you can play your own game. We didn’t get what we expected from it. I spoke to the fourth official about the tackling. We had to make two first-half substitutions.

“I am not happy in how we played and what we did. We gave a lot of balls away and that brings them into the game to create opportunities. Our home record is good but you don’t want to build everything on the home record, you want to get points away as well. We need to do better but we need to get into a certain understanding and rhythm away from home to get results.”