Preston North End captain Alan Browne has moved to clarify his comments after Saturday’s 3-0 hammering at Burnley.
PNE were demolished at Turf Moor as Southampton loanee Nathan Tella struck three times to give the Clarets a comfortable derby day win.
The stats look absolutely horrendous for North End.
Just five shots, only two on target, 30% of possession and only 281 passes completed.
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Burnley goalkeeper Arijanet Muric completed 60 passes whereas no PNE player completed more than 40.
Whatever metric you want to use, PNE are woefully lacking against the Clarets and seemed resigned to losing as soon as they went 1-0 down.
Boss Ryan Lowe is now under immense pressure after winning just three of the last 10 Championship games.
Captain Browne pulled no punches after the final whistle, offering the usual honesty we’re accustomed to in recent years.
Browne told Lancs Live’s George Hodgson that PNE were ‘dominated’ throughout and Burnley were just tactically set up better.
That left fans feeling like Browne was taking a shot at manager Lowe and ultimately questioning his tactics.
Browne has taken to Twitter to clarify his comments, making it clear that it wasn’t a dig at Lowe or anybody else.
Browne noted that he was just trying to give an honest verdict on Burnley being better than PNE – and clear of anybody else in the Championship.
The Irishman asked PNE fans to get behind the players as they will stick together after a harrowing defeat, with Browne and co looking for an immediate reaction against Luton Town on Wednesday night.
Browne endured a difficult afternoon himself as he featured at right wing back against Burnley’s electric winger Anass Zaroury.
That was a difficult assignment for a player who isn’t a right wing back by trade, and Zaroury was a constant threat.
PNE fans actually appreciate Browne’s honesty and hopefully the reaction to these comments doesn’t change his demeanour in the press moving forward.