@IanWaterhouse1
Former Leeds United hero Jermaine Beckford was the pantomime villain on Boxing day after seeing red in the 69th minute after lashing out after a strong aerial tussle with Whites defender Kyle Bartley.
That is now two reds in two appearances for Beckford after being dismissed in his last match for fighting with team mate Eoin Doyle.
However, at that stage Leeds already held a 3-1 advantage at Deepdale thanks to first half goals from Kemar Roofe, Hadi Sacko and Souleymane Doukara coupled with a solitary reply from Preston’s Marnick Vermijl.
Down to ten men and trailing by three goals to one Preston’s task was an ominous one and got worse when Chris Wood combined with Pablo Hernandez to make it four late on in the 88th minute.
The defeat for former Leeds manager Simon Grayson’s side sees them slip to 13th in the league whilst Leeds’s third straight win in the league keeps the Elland Road side firmly in the play offs in fifth.
Manager Reaction
Simon Grayson – Preston North End
“It was inconsistent from the referee but Jermaine Beckford has to react in a better way than he has done.
I think he got a nasty knee in the back but you can’t react and that took the wind out of our sails. You don’t need to be going down to 10 men too many times in this division.”
Garry Monk – Leeds United
“They play quite a direct game. We accepted that really well and went toe to toe.
“We managed to get ourselves some good goals, the only disappointment being their goal. That was the only time where I thought we lost concentration.
“It was a good reaction after that, though, to regain the two-goal lead. I thought it was a very good all-round performance against a team that are doing very well lately.”
Next Up
Sheffield Wednesday are the visitors to Deepdale on Saturday. Wednesday are riding high after victory over table toppers Newcastle United on boxing day.
Leeds face a tough trip to Villa park on Thursday to face an Aston Villa side who have claimed back to back victories over Queens Park Rangers and Burton Albion respectively.
