Preston North End picked up just their second away win in 10 months with an impressive 2-1 win over Watford at Vicarage Road.
After a dour 0-0 at Luton on Saturday, Preston completely changed their approach to this game. Milutin Osmajic scored his third and fourth goals against Watford this season, whilst Jayden Meghoma was very impressive on his debut.
In truth Preston should have won by more, and this has to be the benchmark for away performances now.
On his day Osmajic is lethal
The Montenegrin international’s season has been disrupted by the eight game ban he received for biting Owen Beck of Blackburn Rovers, but the fact he is on 11 goals for the campaign despite this shows he has taken his chances when they have come along.
5 of those goals have come from two cup games with a hat-trick against Harrogate Town and a brace against Charlton Athletic. He now has two braces against The Hornets as well.
His 11 goals this season have come from just 10 starts, and in the league he is scoring a goal every 126 minutes which is among the highest in the Championship.
He’s our best all round striker by far. He’s fast, powerful and clinical as shown by his second goal on Tuesday. He also gets in the right positions and is great at holding up the ball when we need to get further up the pitch. Something which Emil Riis struggles with and as soon as the Dane came on for Osmajic on Tuesday, the whole dynamic of the game changed.
Instant impact from an actual left wing-back
It feels like we’ve been crying out for one for years. So many players have been pushed into wing-back roles and failed to offer what we need. The likes of Scott Sinclair, Tom Barkhuizen, Duane Holmes, Ali McCann and many others have been the square peg in the round hole.
But the arrival of Jayden Meghoma on loan from Brentford allows us to have a left footed player on the left side, and he looks strong both attacking and defensive wise. It also allows us to play Kaine Kesler-Hayden on his natural side.
Meghoma made a key contribution in the first half, when he pushed high up the pitch and battle with James Abankwah to gain possession. Meghoma was the one still standing with the ball, and he picked out Osmajic perfectly in the box. He didn’t rush his pass and it showed maturity and confidence to find his teammate.
A very promising debut, Meghoma looked up for the occasion, and wasn’t overawed at any stage. He knows this will be a key part of his development ,and hopefully KKH can flourish on the right side now too.
So much created
Luckily two goals were enough for the three points on the day, but after a cracking strike from Rocco Vata it was a very nervy seven minutes of stoppage time. In truth the game should have been out of sight in the first half. Mads Frokjaer was at his creative best, and North End were finding plenty of joy getting the ball behind the Watford defence.
Some games it seems as if we have no idea how to create and others it just clicks, and this one was even without Sam Greenwood in the side. The pressure and intensity of North End’s play kept Watford on the backfoot in the first half, and in the second half Osmajic was key to counter attacks.
It’s just the second away win in the league since March 2024, but this type of display should give the team plenty of confidence going into future away matches.
Preston need to make the most of the chances they do create though, and ensure spells of dominance are rewarded with goals and putting the game out of sight.
Does Ledson keep his place?
Paul Heckingbottom stuck to his word from a few weeks ago, after the defeat to West Bromwich Albion he said Ryan Ledson would start the next away game, and he has in fact started the last two. Against Watford he closed down very high up the pitch. He wasn’t in his usual deeper role, as Stefan Thordarson took up that area.
Ledson was key to turnovers in the final third and allowed his teammates to force Watford into mistakes and keep the ball at the right end of the pitch.
Ben Whiteman has missed the last two games due to a suspension for picking up 10 yellow cards already this season, but with a tough game against Middlesbrough on Saturday, it would make sense for Ledson to keep his place.
Assured display from Gibson
Lewis Gibson has now played three matches since joining from Plymouth Argyle, but Tuesday’s game was the first real chance we could see what he’s about. Neither Charlton Athletic or Luton Town really tested him but Watford posed a stronger threat.
Gibson took up the central role in the back three, with Liam Lindsay on the bench. The former Everton man looked comfortable on the ball aside from one sloppy pass, and he looked confident defending both on the ground and aerially.
He seemed to work well with Freddie Woodman, and the defensive duo of Jordan Storey, and Andrew Hughes. An even sterner test will come on Saturday against Emmanuel Latte Lath of Middlesbrough but so far so good for Gibson.