PRESTON Athletic manager Jack Lynch was “absolutely delighted” with his side after their 3-1 win over Glasgow University in the first preliminary round of the Scottish Cup.

The Panners secured their place in the second preliminary round thanks to first-half goals from Lewis Turkington, Jack Jardine and Brandon Archibald at the Pennypit to set up a September 1 tie at home to East of Scotland League rivals Linlithgow Rose.

Lynch told Courier Sport: “I thought we played really well and we were 3-0 up at half-time.

“What can happen in games like that, though, is you can sit back and that’s what we did – we let Glasgow [Uni] back into the game and then they got a goal back.

“That gave them hope that they were still in the tie when we should really have won by five or six.”

The 42-year-old was, though, delighted to be in the next round and looking forward to taking on former junior giants Linlithgow.

He said: “I’m told by the committee that for the Scottish Cup games in the past we’ve had big crowds and everyone [in Prestonpans] has come out.

“I’m hoping it will be the same for the Linlithgow game – we’re going to need them.”

The Preston boss was also hopeful that a spell of good results would increase the club’s fanbase locally.

Lynch added: “We’re relying on local players and the reality is Preston haven’t had a good reputation in the last few years.

“They probably should have gone down from the Lowland League before they did [they were relegated to the East of Scotland League in 2017] but avoided it because of league restructuring and I think some of the fans maybe went away to do other things.

“But we’re trying to grow the club and a lot of that is local players.

“It would be great to see some of those fans come back and support us for the Linlithgow game.”

As he prepares his side for a league visit from St Andrews United on Saturday, Lynch also reflected on the recent departure of co-manager Paul Riley.

“He will be a massive loss to us,” said Lynch.

“I did most of the coaching but Paul’s got a really good eye for things during a game and he’s got a lot of experience so that will be a loss.”