Brentford ended their two game losing run by coming from a goal down to draw with Preston.

Bees winger Florian Jozefzoon cancelled out Tom Barkhuizen's opener as North End had to see out the final 16 minutes without Greg Cunningham after the left-back saw red for a second bookable challenge on the Brentford goalscorer.

Barkhuizen opened the scoring in the 54th minute with a whipped cross from the left that eluded everyone and flew just inside the far post.

But the Londoners hit back with a superb Jozefzoon strike eight minutes later as he chested the ball down on the edge of the box and flashed a low drive inside the near post.

The first half was end-to-end with constant rain making fluent football difficult and allowing Preston to stifle the hosts' fluent football with a series of niggling fouls.

Tommy Spurr thought he had given his side the lead midway through the half, but his headed effort was disallowed after he strayed offside from Paul Gallagher's free-kick.

Brentford had the best chance of the half to break the deadlock three minutes before the break, Nico Yennaris' one-touch through ball finding Maupay whose first-time effort was blocked by a brave stop from goalkeeper Declan Rudd.

The game burst into life after the break and Brentford saved their best football for after they had gone behind, McEachran driving across goal and just wide from a well-worked free-kick.

The equaliser came after substitutes Alan Judge and Emiliano Marcondes added tempo to proceedings, with Judge's crosses a constant threat.

Ollie Watkins headed just wide at the far post as he got on the end of a free-kick from the Irishman, and moments later saw his ferocious half-volley from Rudd's punched clearance shave the outside of the post.

In the last minute Brentford thought they had continued Preston's dismal run at Griffin Park - losing seven of their last eight - but Judge's free-kick was tipped onto the post by Rudd to clinch a hard-earned point.

Below are five talking points to emerge from the game.

Much better Maupay

Neal Maupay

After Dean Smith felt that Neal Maupay wasn't given sufficient support in the 1-0 defeat to Norwich last month, it would only be natural that eyes would be on the Frenchman.

And it was a much improved performance in comparison to the game with the Canaries; helped, of course, by not being ill in the run up to the January fixture.

A striker high on confidence would have scored the chance he had at the end of the first half but credit must go to Declan Rudd for his reactions and the speed of which he came off his line.

What impressed me most, though, about Maupay's performance was his battling qualities and his work rate.

The Preston defence couldn't handle him so they resorted to bringing him down instead and that, in my view, shows how well the striker played.

There's still room for improvement, just as there is with every player, but there were plenty of encouraging signs that Maupay can shine between now and the end of the season.

Energetic Egan

John Egan

Dean Smith's modus operandi is for the players in possession of the shirt have to perform to keep them and Egan laid down a marker to Chris Mepham.

Mepham, of course, took Egan's shirt after his second concussion and the Irishman would be able to understand, given the performances of the 20-year-old, that the Welsh U21 international deserved to keep his shirt.

But, that same logic now applies to Egan. He performed well over the 90 minutes and showed good leadership and it was interesting to hear from Chiedozie Ogbene ahead of the game about how he commands the dressing room off the pitch.

His performance against Preston was certainly a captain's performance and he brings something different when he is in the side.

If Mepham is fit again for Sunderland, I will not envy Dean Smith as he makes the decision on the centre back pairing.

Negative Preston

Ollie Watkins

It's a common theme that teams come to Griffin Park and look to disrupt Brentford's flow by committing tactical fouls and time-wasting.

In recent weeks, the only two teams who have attempted to play football have been Fulham and Aston Villa and the Bees played both of them off the park.

It's all very well saying it's a compliment to the Bees as opponents know they can't live with their football but the problem is Dean Smith's side haven't yet worked out how to properly deal with it.

I don't blame Preston for the way they played and I'd have gone in with the exact same strategy if I was Alex Neil.

But, from a Brentford perspective, they need to be a bit more streetwise to break those sides down.

The feeling I've been left with in recent weeks is the Bees must be absolutely perfect going forward to score as opponents with either foul or commit bodies back quickly so they can't be passed through.

Just that bit of luck lacking

Alan Judge

Brentford did have chances to score more goals but the shots either went the wrong side of the post, were blocked or hit the woodwork.

The last time I remember the Bees being gifted a goal was Nico Yennaris' long range effort going in at Sheffield Wednesday. Otherwise, they've relied on working the ball through teams.

Tom Barkhuizen's goal, however, was the absolute perfect ball into the box that, from my angle, looked as if it had been headed in but had actually curled away from John Egan and left Dan Bentley stranded.

Goalkeepers hate conceding goals from those areas but, to me, this was just a freak ball that the Lilywhites man would struggle to replicate in a match situation if he tried it 100 times.

It's not over yet but...

Dean Smith

Time is running out for Brentford to make a surge towards the play-offs and I'd suggest they have to pick up at least seven points out of nine.

The Bees travel to Sunderland who are in all sorts of strife and the Stadium of Light could quite easily turn ugly if the Black Cats are on the back foot.

Birmingham will feel like a must win, especially for the supporters, with the return of Harlee Dean, Jota and Maxime Colin.

Leeds will certainly be tough for the west Londoners as well with Paul Heckingbottom looking to win over their supporters.

A good run of results could put the Bees back in the race. A bad run will leave them waiting for May to come.

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