Darren Fletcher tussles with Jason JarrettThe spectre of Ruud van Nistelrooy hung over Deepdale as Preston wrapped up their pre-season programme with a deserved win over Manchester United.
A sizeable visiting contingent sang the Dutchman's name at regular intervals, saluting Van Nistelrooy's 150-goal contribution to the Red Devils' cause in five years at the club.
Van Nistelrooy made a point of acknowledging the support he received from the United fans when he completed his move to Real Madrid and there are clearly plenty of supporters with reservations over the decision to release the striker.
Ten years exactly since his arrival at Old Trafford from Molde, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was able to mark his decade of service with a goal, firing home from the spot after Darren Fletcher had been felled by Alan McCormack.
Unfortunately for the visitors, with Solskjaer hitting the bar in stoppage time, the goal could not stave off defeat, although with hardly any of his senior stars on show, Sir Alex Ferguson was probably not that concerned at the result.
Given the youthful nature of United's squad, it was somewhat ironic a former Red Devils trainee should put Preston in front.
Danny Pugh has spent two mixed years at Leeds since he left Old Trafford but, set up by David Nugent, the full-back-turned-midfielder rasped home a powerful shot which would have meant far more than just a friendly goal.
Having performed so well at Celtic on Wednesday, United's youngsters this time found themselves on the back foot against a Preston side who have designs on a second successive play-off appearance under new coach Paul Simpson.
With Nugent and Danny Dichio up front, they gave the Red Devils rookie central defensive partnership of Jonny Evans and Paul McShane a torrid time.
Carlo Nash did make a couple of decent saves to deny Kieran Richardson and Liam Miller, the two full internationals in United's starting line-up. But largely it was a case of the visitors fire-fighting to ensure they did not fall further adrift.
Preston's second eventually arrived just before the hour mark, with Pugh this time the provider, springing United's poorly policed offside trap before squaring to Simon Whaley, who tapped into an empty net.
Whaley's effort provided Preston with a cushion to resist United's attempted fightback once Solskjaer rifled home six minutes from time.
However, both sides suffered injury concerns in the second half, with United full-back Phil Bardsley was the first to go down, limping off with what appeared to be an ankle problem.
At least Bardsley was able to make his own way to the touchline, unlike Preston's French defender Youl Mawene, who had to be carried off on a stretcher after failing to get to his feet after trying to make a tackle just inside his own half.
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