Ryan Ledson admitted it was a shock to see Ryan Lowe leave his position at Preston manager.

The 26-year-old helped Preston to a 2-0 EFL Cup victory over Sunderland, opening the scoring via a deflection in the 37th minute, and Mads Frokjaer sealed the victory with an excellent 70th-minute solo strike.

But the real talking point was Lowe’s exit by “mutual consent”, which was confirmed on Monday after just one match of the season.

“It was a shock as it was after one game but it was the gaffer’s decision at the end of the day,” Ledson said. “Everyone was still playing for him and he’s a top fella. It just got too much for him.

“He leaves with everyone’s best regards and we all wish him all the best. We obviously finished 10th last year, progressed every year, but it was his decision in the end.”

Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris made 11 changes to the team that were victorious against Cardiff but he was happy with the effort of his second-string stars.

He said: “We defended well, pressed high, recovered some balls high up the pitch and created some big chances.

“But the lack of experience and the ability of this opponent to be strong on set pieces [proved decisive].

“I think for us it’s not good because we are not in the Carabao Cup but we want to improve the players and we want to create opportunities to develop them. This was a great occasion for them.”