PRESTON NORTH END manager Alex Neil was thrilled with Jayson Molumby’s contribution to Wednesday night’s Championship win away to Birmingham City.

After a surging run from midfield, Molumby set up Scott Sinclair to score the game’s only goal.

The 1-0 victory leaves Preston in 10th place, seven points adrift of the play-offs, ahead of Sunday’s visit of Reading to Deepdale.

Molumby was making his first Championship start for Preston since joining the club on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion earlier this month.

“He triggered the press great, he was aggressive, his use of the ball was good, his weight of pass for the goal was excellent,” Neil said of the midfielder from Waterford.

“He ran himself into the ground and it will be really interesting to see how much distance he covered because it felt like he pressed three players himself at times.”

Molumby is back for another stint in the second tier of English football, having impressed there last season while making 36 appearances during a loan spell with Millwall.

The 21-year-old, who has earned five senior Republic of Ireland caps, was rewarded with a new three-and-a-half-year contract by Brighton last March.

“I just try to do my best every time I go out on the pitch, to give my all for the team to just try to pick up points and win games,” he said after the win against Birmingham City. “Thankfully I could help do that.”

Meanwhile, Neil has played down concerns over an injury to Sean Maguire after the Ireland attacker was absent for the midweek fixture at St Andrew’s.

“It’s not a big issue with Sean,” the Preston boss said today. “It’s probably overuse more than anything else as he’s played a lot of games, but we will see how he is over the coming days.”