Lancashire

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Preston chairman Ian Penrose has confirmed the club are in talks with potential investors.

Penrose took over as chairman in October after owner Craig Hemmings stepped down.

Sky News reported on Saturday, external that US-born Saudi businessman Amr Zedan had held discussions about investing in the Championship club.

The club said since this story was published, the club's owners and board had been subjected to abuse on social media.

"We have commenced discussions with a number of parties from around the world who have expressed an interest in acquiring Preston North End," Penrose told the club website, external.

"This process is in its early stages and is ongoing as we continue to receive new approaches.

"I can confirm that we have had discussions with Mr Zedan, who we respect highly.

"Mr Zedan is one of a number of successful individuals or organisations that have made enquiries about the club. Specific comments on any approach are inappropriate at this stage."

The Lilywhites lost 4-0 at second-placed Middlesbrough on Saturday to drop down to ninth place.

They have not played in the top flight of English football since 1961.

Penrose added: "While such a transaction can take months to conclude and there is no certainty that a successful outcome will be achieved, it is the board's intention to conclude these negotiations at the earliest opportunity.

"It is of utmost importance that any future owner of Preston North End is the right fit for the football club in order to maximise the club's potential and the ambitions of our fans, stakeholders and owners."

Sami Mokbel
Senior football correspondent

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If Burnley are going to make a managerial change they need to make it now otherwise you get to a point where it is pointless and you're not going to have enough time to turn things around.

I think that would be harsh on Scott Parker having got them up into the Premier League last season, but if we look at the Premier League table they are too far adrift to mount any serious attempts at staying up.

That's just the lay of the land in the Premier League. It's always going to be difficult for those teams coming up to stay up - history tells us that.

Leeds have been on a great run but with just one defeat and a loss of confidence they can easily be sucked back in.

It would be incredibly harsh for Burnley to get rid of Parker now but stranger things have happened.

Listen to the full chat on BBC Sounds

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Burnley and Tottenham.

Here are some of your comments:

Burnley fans

Graham: Almost....but not quite! The story of Burnley's season so far. Improved performance again, and a display of what Burnley fans expect; effort; courage; resilience. In the end, though, just not enough to get over the line. We're being cut adrift, and it's now going to take more than a little luck to survive.

Martin: We played well in fits and starts. Not good enough for the Premier League and too good for the Championship, but that's where we are heading. Could this be another team rebuild or can we keep most of the squad together? I'm still not sure about Scott Parker, is he good enough? We really needed better strikers from the beginning of the season.

John: Burnley just blew their chance of going above West Ham next week. Three points from this game would have been massive.

Steve: So frustrating watching Burnley this season. There are bouts of great tackling and closing down, but too many times we give the ball away with poor passes or dwell on the ball and lose possession. Armando Broja has worked hard but he had three through balls and didn't covert one! We will keep plugging away but we are in this grey place of being too good for the Championship but not good enough for the Premier League.

Tottenham fans

Ray: The team on the pitch was well qualified to beat Burnley. Our lack of class and cutting edge up front is a massive problem. This is why Cristian Romero takes it upon himself to act as a striker at times. Many teams in the league have injuries so we can't keep hiding behind this excuse. We need to concentrate more.

Kevin: Micky van de Ven and Romero will get the plaudits for scoring goals, however, they need to start defending. Both goals were completely avoidable with a little communication. There is not a true leader in that team. Tactically I've noticed all season that we don't get players out wide to stop crosses, so that has to be on Thomas Frank. Teams with similar injury issues either have the quality to compete, or the guts to dig in, and this team has neither.

Barry: We should look at the players as well as Frank. He picked eight of the players that played against Borussia Dortmund and they looked like chalk and cheese. Why they can't play two consecutive matches well is a question that needs answering.

Raj: The players battled hard and are clearly trying, as is Frank, but it clearly isn't working. No clear strategy or vision of how to play in the final third which is why goals are lacking and games are not won. The team look lost once they get into the opposition box. Sadly, Frank needs to go as he's in over his head.

Pundits Alan Shearer and Ashley Williams join host Mark Chapman to bring you the action and talking points from Saturday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Manchester City 2-0 Wolves

• Burnley 2-2 Tottenham

• Bournemouth 3-2 Liverpool

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Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom says he cannot accept how his side were rolled over in their heavy defeat at Middlesbrough.

North End lost a third successive Championship game to fall out of the play-off spots, all without scoring as they succumbed at the Riverside.

They were three down by half-time and then had defender Jordan Storey sent off to make matters worse on a miserable afternoon for all concerned.

"The goals were all mistakes, all errors, so you're never going to win games if you give goals away like that," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"We've gifted the game to Boro but they're a good side - it would have been hard enough anyway not doing that.

"But I can't accept that we come to a place like this and just because they're a good side, we roll over.

"We've shown in spells this season that we can play to those levels. Our challenge is putting a group together that can do it for 46 games."

Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

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Burnley manager Scott Parker looked downcast as he made his way off at the final whistle, the opportunity of a rare victory snatched away in the closing moments.

In a match of dubious quality, The Clarets' passive approach and lack of conviction allowed Spurs to dominate - without ever looking fluent - until they were thrown a lifeline with Axel Tuanzebe's equaliser at the end of the first half.

Burnley showed more intent after the break but still struggled to carve out chances until Parker made changes that injected life into his team.

Foster looked to have given them their first league win in 14 games, but Burnley could not hold out for a victory that would have been even more valuable after West Ham United's win against Sunderland, their second in succession in the league, earlier on Saturday.

Burnley's point was mainly thanks to the superb goalkeeping of Martin Dubravka, who saved the best of a string of outstanding saves until the last when he somehow clawed out Tel's late header.

It left Burnley contemplating three points until Cristian Romero's last-gasp intervention left them feeling a big opportunity had passed them by.

Burnley boss Scott Parker, spoke to BBC Match of the Day after his side's draw with Tottenham: "I think we did [enough to win the game].

"You score the second and take the lead, you understand that at that moment, they're going to commit a lot more men forward and the centre-half they commit ends up scoring the goal.

"A little bit disappointing, no doubt, because you're that close and in the last dying seconds you concede. But overall, really pleased with my team.

"I thought we showed an incredible spirit today and showed our quality at time. After going a goal down, our response from superb. Just disappointed we didn't hold on."

On reaction to going behind: "That's the key. In our position, we're in and around it. Human natural is that in these moments you can become very nervy, very edgy but I've not seen that from my group this season.

"Our reaction was superb. We need to continue where we're going. If you look at the start of this season, we've improved massively.

"We've played Manchester United and Liverpool, and improved in our second performance. Now we've played Tottenham, who we played opening day, and at times looked a little bit startled and we've put in another good performance here.

"I know we need some wins, I'm not hiding from that fact, and we were close to day, but there has been some real improvement."

On Lyle Foster sub: "We needed to freshen things up, the boys gave everything. Lyle comes in and scores a goal, which was brilliant. This is a tight group, a together group and we need everyone to give us a chance.

"We've spoken about the fine margins throughout this year and again there has been massively improvement for sure. Some real positives today and we'll take them and carry them forward with us."

On turning draws into wins: "No denying that, we're at that point now. Can we turn these draws into wins? That's what we'll endeavour to do."

Did you know?

• Burnley goalkeeper Martin Dubravka has made more saves than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League this season (94). Only once has he made more saves in a Premier League match than his nine on Saturday (10 vs Liverpool in January 2024).

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Burnley's performance

What did you make of Tottenham's display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Burnley are unchanged from the side that got a point against Liverpool last time out.

Burnley XI: Dubravka, Walker (c), Esteve, Tuanzebe, Ugochukwu, Edwards, Anthony, Humphreys, Florentino, Pires, Broja.

Subs: Weiss, Larsen, Foster, Tchaouna, Ekdal, Sonne, Mejbri, Laurent, Barnes.

Yves Bissouma starts for Tottenham, while Dominic Solanke retains his play in the first XI after scoring on his first start of the season against Borussia Dortmund in midweek.

Tottenham XI: Vicario, Danso, Xavi, Bissouma, Romero (c), Solanke, Gallagher, Porro, Spence, Odobert, van de Ven.

Subs: Kinsky, Dragusin, Tel, Udogie, Gray, Kolo Muani, Scarlett, Byfield, Williams-Barnett.