Preston boss Alan Irvine gave no excuses for a below-par performance in Saturday's 1-0 home defeat by Crystal Palace in the Championship.Following a week which saw North End grab four points - including victory over high-flying Stoke - Preston went down to an Eagles side that had gone on a run of six games without a win.

After the Deepdale result left his side in 21st, one point above the drop zone, an extremely disappointed Irvine said: "It was a poor performance. I'm sure the Stoke game took a lot out of them both mentally and physically but I don't really want to make any excuses.

"I think we should be able to put in a performance on a Tuesday night and then do the same on Saturday.

"Palace deserved to win. I don't think we looked threatening enough. We looked a bit more threatening in the second half.

"We got a bit more momentum, then conceded an unnecessary corner from which they scored the goal.

"Without playing well we had started to improve, but we certainly had to improve because the first-half performance was not anywhere near good enough.

"We didn't pass the ball well enough, didn't receive the ball enough. If you don't do those two things, then you are not going to do very much.

"We have got 11 huge games and we need to be play at the level we have played in recent games, not at this level today.

"I still believe things are going to go a long way. Obviously, a result today would have been fantastic, but it would not have guaranteed us anything. I expect this relegation battle to go deep into the season."

Preston failed to take several great chances to score.

Chris Sedgwick had a shot tipped over the bar and Lewis Neal had a golden opportunity knocked away for a corner.

For the visitors, Republic of Ireland striker Clinton Morrison grabbed his 14th goal of the season after Victor Moses headed down on 76 minutes.

Delighted Palace manager Neil Warnock said: "We were really resolute. In fairness to Preston, I think they took a lot out of their sails with the Stoke game.

"By all accounts Preston were super on Tuesday, so it is a little bit after the Lord Mayor's Show.

"A team like Crystal Palace come up and we have been poor for a few games. We made some changes and really they probably caught us at a bad time in that we were fresh today."

Warnock was pleased Paul Ifill was able to return after injury.

Warnock revealed: "I asked him to give me an hour. I crossed my fingers and was tempted at half-time not to start him again.

"Because of the movement of the front three, the midfield, who had been very poor in the last month got a lot of the ball. We played it very well, long and short and were quite professional today.

"It's probably one of the best team performances of the season. There were no individuals who were outstanding - they were all very good in their own jobs.

"I don't think there is an outstanding sixth team this year in the Championship, so I think everybody will be after sixth position," added Warnock, whose side lie 11th in the table.

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