Paul Heckingbottom lauds loanee Daniel Jebbison after Preston draw at Watford

Manager Paul Heckingbottom praised loan striker Daniel Jebbison after his goal in the 1-1 draw at Watford helped keep Preston in the play-off positions.

Jebbison, on loan from Bournemouth, broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute with a calm finish after Lewis Dobbin had set him up.

It was his third Preston goal – in contrast to an unsuccessful spell with the Hornets last season when he failed to score.

Watford levelled in first-half stoppage time when Mamadou Doumbia converted Jeremy Ngakia’s pull-back for his second goal of the campaign.

Heckingbottom said: “With Daniel and all the loan players we bring in, we’re very clear – Premier League clubs will offer you young players but if I can’t see them offering something to the team and bringing in a quality we’ve not got, it’s pointless taking them.

“Jebbo brings qualities we’ve not got in the squad and when players do that, they’re really valuable to us.

“If a player feels valued and is getting opportunities, you’ve got a good chance of getting the best out of him.

“He can only improve. He’s got a lot to improve at but everyone can see how hard he wants to work.”

Watford manager Javi Gracia was disappointed his side could not follow up Saturday’s 3-2 at Derby by securing another victory, with the Hornets dropping a place to 12th in the table.

He said: “All of us, we are disappointed. We have to be disappointed because we wanted the three points after the last game, winning away.

“All the players made a great effort to get the win but it is true that in the first half we didn’t start well. It was tough for us to manage.

“The second half was different with more chances, more control and possession in the opposition half. We had chances to win the game. In these moments when you feel you have the momentum to win, you have to do it.

“We have to be more clinical and take these chances. We are improving, we are being more solid, aggressive and consistent but we need to improve even more.

“There were many good things but at this moment it is not enough to get very good results in a row. We are ambitious – getting a draw is not enough for us.”

A point did not disappoint Heckingbottom, who added: “It was a good away performance, they are more dangerous at home than they are away.

“We knew we would have to defend our box well and in general we did but we also carried a threat. The point’s good, the performance was good and we could easily have nicked that.”