THIS defeat was a bad blow to supporters of Preston North End and finally killed off any lingering hopes of Preston figuring in the end of season play-offs.

Preston boss David Moyes was obviously disappointed with the result and said: "For the second week on the trot we have given away a goal in injury time and it has cost us points."

Brushing his disappointment aside he added: "I am confident about our chances of staying up."

Burnley manager Chris Waddle was delighted: "It's nice to be heading out of the relegation zone but we have to work on this," he said.

Preston are now just a mere three points better off than Brentford who are in that relegation area and North End travel to Griffin Park to play Brentford in a six-pointer on Saturday.

Preston haven't won a league match since mid-December and they have dropped steadily down the table, leaving them now very unlikely contenders even for the play-offs which now seem a million miles away.

Defeat at Brentford is unthinkable, yet if it happens then the drop is a distinct possibility.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.