Simon Grayson targets automatic promotion

Simon Grayson has challenged his Preston North End players to use their playoff disappointment to inspire them to automatic promotion next season.

The Lilywhites slumped to a 3-1 second-leg defeat away to Rotherham United on Thursday to end their chances of earning promotion into the Championship.

Nevertheless, Grayson, who has previously led Leeds United out of League One, hopes that his troops can find a silver lining in last night's defeat.

"It hurts when you lose any football match but when you lose a semi-final it hurts you even more but there's only two teams that can go through," he told Sky Sports News.

"It can be a really strong motivation to have in your locker for next year. You don't like losing any match and semi-finals are difficult to take.

"I experienced it as a manager with Leeds but we bounced back the next year with automatic promotion and that will be our aim next year because you can't be down for too long."

Rotherham face Leyton Orient in the playoff final at Wembley later this month.