Gary McSheffrey alone was guilty of squandering at least two glorious chances which ultimately cost Blues defeat at Deepdale and handed the Championship title to Sunderland, who won their last match at Luton. "We could not have done any more today in terms of chances," Bruce said after the 1-0 defeat. "We had the chances for all to see, but missed them. "Gary McSheffrey got a hat-trick against Preston earlier this season but unfortunately today has missed two glaring chances that normally you would put your house on that he would score. "I detected it wouldn't be our day today. Towards the end of the game it was like something on a training pitch, end-to-end. We have had chance after chance."
Bruce gave credit to his former Manchester United team-mate Roy Keane for winning the Championship title in his first season as a manager.
"Roy has done fantastically well. I am from the north east and delighted to see them up there," the Blues boss said.