Preston North End were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Huddersfield Town on Wednesday night. The Lilywhites had the far better chances and on another night could have found the net three or four times.
There are plenty of positives to take despite it being a frustrating night. This team is still building and progressing under Ryan Lowe and it looks like it will only get better.
Four clean sheets in five
The defence and Daniel Iversen are looking solid of late. They are working well together and we know individually they are all having great seasons as well. Iversen is a great shot stopper and Sepp van den Berg seems to grow with each and every game. Patrick Bauer is key at the heart of the defence and Andrew Hughes is possibly the player of the season so far as he has been Mr Consistent.
Huddersfield are fifth and had scored seven goals in their last three league games but they only managed one shot in target on Wednesday night. They were nullified and our defence do the simple things very well now.
Four successive draws at home
With plenty of positives to take away from the away form since Lowe’s appointment it’s annoying that is hasn’t quite been plain sailing at home. The last four games at Deepdale have yielded just four points with draws against Birmingham City, Sheffield United, Bristol City and of course The Terriers.
The Birmingham game and this most recent one should have been wins which would have given us an extra four points and at the time of writing would have put us level on points with Nottingham Forest in sixth place. But that’s being picky and to even be writing that at this stage of the season actually gives me some comfort because earlier this season there were far more pressing negatives to write about.
Archer shows his quick feet will cause problems
The lad has got ability and confidence. You put them together and you’re going to be doing alright. Archer loves having the ball played into his feet and his teammates clearly know that as well. He does his best to turn defenders inside out and has often left them on their backsides.
He’s always keen to try and find space to get his shot away. He was unlucky not to score his third goal in a North End shirt on Wednesday with his trickery almost unbalancing himself but shooting. We should expect to see plenty more from him this season. That was only Archer’s third start and more game time will do him the world of good. Furthermore Emil Riis and Ched Evans will get to learn his game and vice versa.
With Archer at the forefront of the attacking play, Preston did manage to cut open Huddersfield numerous times. Evans could have scored in the first half, we looked to have been given a penalty, Whiteman went close with two volleys and Riis went close at the end.
Huddersfield stuck to their shape and were hard to break down but yet despite ending up goalless, Preston did offer some threat going forward.
Josh Earl holds us back
It’s very frustrating watching Josh Earl play at wing back. He either doesn’t understand the role, has no confidence in himself or lacks the ability. Perhaps a mix of all three. It was a shame to see Greg Cunningham hobble off in the first half after starting the last six games for North End. His best run in the side since returning to the club and hopefully he’s not sidelined for too long.
Cunningham may not be in the peak of his career due to numerous injury problems but he’s a far better option than Josh Earl. The 23-year-old lacks any confidence to attack which is a huge hinderance in this formation. We need him to kick on, push forward when he can and try and beat a man. He’s way too negative. He never looks to be giving it his all, rather playing at 60%. He rarely puts a cross in, choosing to cut inside before looking lost the majority of the time.
He did look a promising player when he first broke into the side. That was over four years ago though and he hasn’t improved. Right now Joe Rafferty would be a better option there and perhaps even Josh Murphy when fit.