An Ashley Higgins goal on the half hour mark proved to be the difference between the two sides as North End's second string continued their impressive form with a win over Burnley at Accrington's Frazer Eagle Stadium.

Higgins pounced in the 31st minute of the game to poke the ball home after the Clarets keeper had spilled a shot following a great run and strike from Danny Mayor. The Lilywhites were made to battle all the way against a determined Burnley outfit who were reduced to 10 men moments after PNE had taken the lead when Burnley midfielder James Craggs was shown a red-card for a two-footed challenge.

Both sides fielded youthful looking sides with Preston only having Chris Neal, Dylan Adams and Paul Gallagher available from the first-team pool of players, Burnley only selected one pro, Jay Rodriguez.

Both sides had chances to win the game in a tough competitive derby fixture and the Lilywhites had Chris Neal to thank for a dominant display in goal to deny the Clarets getting back in the game. The Lilywhites prevailed though to inflict what was only Burnley's second defeat of the season and maintain the challenge towards the top of the Pontins Holiday League table.

Youth team coach Jamie Hoyland had a good chance to see plenty of his youngsters in action and he was pretty pleased with what he saw: "We should have added to our tally and there was a bit of a desperate five minutes at the end when they put about four people up-front and were knocking long balls in, but it was nothing that Chris Neal couldn't cope with and he put in a commanding display to control his area.

"There were a few there and it was a local derby against Burnley, it was a really good experience for them. They had a young squad as well, more or less the same as us, one or two young pros in there, it was very even.

"It's not about being at the top of the table, it's the player development that we are looking for and getting players through. It's good that they have won, they were happy that they had won and there was some decent performances."

Tune into Whites World later in the week to see the goal and highlights from this game. Don't forget, it's only 99p for a one-week trial for a limited period only!