Paul Heckingbottom praises Daniel Iversen’s response to error against Millwall

Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom praised goalkeeper Daniel Iversen for how he bounced back from his calamitous error in the first half of their draw at Millwall.

The Lilywhites had the chance to go second in the Sky Bet Championship with victory at The Den where they struck first through Michael Smith.

However, they were pegged back after Iversen’s clanger gifted Mihailo Ivanovic an equaliser but the Danish stopper deserves credit for his solid display in the second half in the face of the home supporters’ barracking.

It could have been another setback for Heckingbottom, after he had striker Milutin Osmajic suspended for nine games on Friday for alleged racist abuse of Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri back in February, but he was impressed with the response.

He said: “It was a beauty, wasn’t it? I’ve seen a few of them before from goalkeepers – it’s never nice when it happens to your team or for the keeper involved.

“I’m really pleased he made a good save in the second half because other than that he was pretty quiet.

“He came for a good cross at the end but again he was protected really well by the team in front of him.

“He’s a great character, he’s played a lot of games and he knows how valuable he is to us. It’s just frustrating when it does cost you points in a game.

“You always want three [points] but I really enjoyed watching us second half in a game that did lack quality, let’s be honest.

“There were good moments but second half I loved the mentality we showed and how combative we were. I really enjoyed the second half.”

Preston led after 15 minutes when Smith seized on a poor back pass by Millwall’s Camiel Neghli by neatly clipping the ball past Max Crocombe with a first-time finish.

But the Lions were presented with a leveller in the 36th minute when Iversen produced an air shot from Liam Lindsay’s throw, giving Ivanovic an empty net.

Iversen went some way to redeeming himself with a sharp save at his near post in turning Ivanovic’s effort from Tristan Crama’s cross behind.

Preston twice came close to snatching a late win as Thierry Small’s shot squirmed under Crocombe but trickled wide before the Millwall goalkeeper’s legs denied Lewis Dobbin.

Millwall boss Alex Neil accepted his former club looked the more likely winners in the closing stages.

He said: “I thought first half we were good – we obviously get the mistake that Daniel makes, which was fortunate for us and we managed to get ourselves back in the game.

“I actually thought we started the second half pretty well, I thought we were probably the better team for that spell and I thought the game changed when they brought the subs on the pitch.

“I thought Dobbin and Small and Devine looked bright, they looked fresh and the difficulty you’ve got is if you look back at the game over 90 minutes, I would probably say that we edged it.

“We had more opportunities in the game than them but then the game finishes in the manner which it does in the last 10 minutes with them getting the better chances.

“It leaves you with a feeling of ‘yeah, take the point’, so I didn’t think we deserved to lose the game.”