Wigan boss Ryan Lowe thrilled to upset former club Preston in FA Cup

Ryan Lowe was delighted after Wigan upset his old club Preston with a 1-0 victory in the FA Cup third-round at Deepdale.

Harrison Bettoni’s deflected 75th-minute strike proved decisive, while Callum Wright also missed a penalty late on for the visitors.

The Wigan boss said: “I’m pleased for our fans, pleased for our lads, the gameplan worked a treat.

“I did enjoy it, of course, coming back to my old club and performing to the levels that we did, limiting them to very few chances, if any.

“[We] had three big chances and we should score more goals: the penalty obviously, and a couple of chances in the first half against a fantastic team who are flying high in the Championship so why wouldn’t you be pleased?

“There were nearly 4,000 of our fans in the away end and the outsang the Preston North End fans and it was fantastic.”

Lowe was animated after the full-time whistle and played a parting swipe at Preston fans.

“It was a special moment and if [the fans] are going to give stick, you’ve got to be able to take it back and I relished that at the end of that game to give it back.”

However, he added: “Now [the reunion] is done and dusted, I’d love to go back and support them and watch games.”

Paul Heckingbottom was left frustrated at Preston’s early FA Cup exit.

“From the first minute we weren’t playing how we wanted to play,” he said.

“I’m not talking about loose passes or a lack of energy or whatever, I’m talking about the things we usually work on that give us an edge, we didn’t do it. [For] the goal, we’re not set up right and they get the shot off.

“Free-kicks, corners, organisation, things we pride ourselves on, we weren’t as good as we usually are. It makes the game harder for ourselves.

“It’s over, we can’t do anything now. It’s pointless now. I think one thing we’ve been really good at is reflecting properly, being honest, trying to deliver and making it right.

“It was a frustrating performance, you get them, but you don’t want to have them and I think we all feel the same [disappointment].”

On the state of the pitch, which look a little patchy, he added: “It’s a cow field. It’s disgusting, that’s what it is, but we have to play on it.”