PRESTON boss Ryan Lowe admits Rovers “wanted it more” following his side’s 4-1 defeat at Deepdale.

Sam Gallagher, John Buckley, Darragh Lenihan and Lewis Travis were all on target as Tony Mowbray's men returned to winning ways in style.

Lowe says his side were “passive in so many ways” and has demanded a response in the final two games of the season.

“I didn't see that coming. You can’t give three goals in the first half of Championship football against any team,” said the North End chief.

“We felt we could jump on Blackburn early on - they've not been in great form with respect - but they did that to us and I thought they wanted it more than us today.

“I will stick with the lads through thick and thin. I'll never throw them under the bus, especially in the media.

“The holidays are not around the corner - we have two big games coming up where we want to get as many points as we can and finish as high as we can.”

“We weren't at the races today and we've been punished for it. We were passive in so many ways and dropped into areas we didn't want to.”

The result leaves Lowe’s side 15th in the Championship table, while Rovers are seventh – just three points off the top six.

Mowbray’s men are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they welcome promotion hopefuls Bournemouth to Ewood Park (KO 3pm).

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