Jackett delighted after reaching round four at Preston’s expense

Saturday, January 5, 2013
10:19 PM

Millwall manager Kenny Jackett was delighted his side had made it through to the FA Cup fourth round at the expense of Preston, but admitted the win should have been much more comfortable.

Liam Feeney’s strike just before the half-hour mark proved to be the difference between the two sides at the New Den.

But for Jackett it was a case of job done after a solid if unspectacular display against a Preston side who more than matched Jackett’s side for large parts of this third-round encounter.

“In the first half we played very well, and created some great chances at the start of the second half,” he said.

“We needed to get more goals up really to make it comfortable. We were quite dominant in the first half and had to defend for the last half an hour which was frustrating.

“We had to put in a real defensive shift which we had to sustain for a long period, when they switched to a 4-3-3 formation.

“I’m very pleased defensively that we saw it out. Our passing out of defence for the break wasn’t as good as it should have been.”

Millwall nearly went ahead after 20 minutes when Darius Henderson’s powerful half volley inside the box was deflected on to the bar with Preston stopper Steve Simonsen helpless.

Feeney’s 12-yard strike put the Lions in control in the 31st minute, helped in by a deflection from Shane Cansdell-Sherriff

Preston pushed for an equaliser after the break, with the best chance falling to Stuart Beavon, whose eight-yard shot flashed just wide.