Preston North End picked up a much needed win at home to Watford on Wednesday night. After an uneventful first half The Lilywhites took control in the second and eventually eased to a 3-0 win.
A fitting send off for Osmajic
We are still waiting to hear the outcome of the FA charge and investigation that Milutin Osmajic is facing. After being charged with biting Owen Beck of Blackburn Rovers you would expect a lengthy ban is heading his way.
However with no decision made on that yet, the Montenegrin was free to play. He led the line on his own against Watford with Mads Frokjaer sitting behind and he was clearly hungry to get on the scoresheet.
Kaine Kesler-Hayden provided the assist for the first and Osmajic picked up his second shortly after when he smashed home a Jordan Storey cross. Funnily enough these were his first goals at Deepdale that weren’t scored at the Town End.
He had a wonderful chance to pick up his third hat-trick in six months but it wasn’t to be. The 25-year-old left the pitch after a display that delighted the North End faithful. But how long will it be before we see him again?
Heckingbottom is still experimenting
The manager made five changes from the defeat to Millwall at the weekend. After playing a flat back four in recent weeks he reverted to the wing-back system we have become accustomed to seeing.
I’ll be honest I wasn’t too enamoured with the team lineup when I saw it. It looked very defensive and lacking creativity. Robbie Brady lacks any pace whatsoever and the midfield looked like it would be too deep.
The first half was lacklustre with North End struggling to create much. At times we had Ali McCann and Jordan Storey passing it around on the edge of the opposition area but with neither having a clue what to do.
The opening goal came from an incisive breakaway. For possibly the first time in his career Freddie Woodman saw an opening and a chance for a counter attack. Storey did well to release Kesler-Hayden and his cross was converted by Osmajic. Worth noting that less than a minute before the goal Ben Whiteman made a crucial clearance off the line after Woodman failed to deal with a corner.
The next two goals arrived from set-pieces but Watford were poor in truth and didn’t offer any sort of response after the first goal aside from a glorious chance Vakoun Bayo miss. I’d still like more creative, pacy players on the pitch when we’re playing at home but you can’t argue against that result.
It shows we can be flexible now with a couple of options available to us.
Man of the match
Although Osmajic was awarded the man of the match on the night for me Kesler-Hayden was superb and more deserving of it.
He’s fast and loves to try and get up the pitch and to the byline. Something we’ve been lacking so much in recent years. His energy was relentless and he was very deserving of his standing ovation when he was substituted off.
He’s been in and out of the team so far but the display and the win on Wednesday night will do KKH the world of good. A huge confidence boost for him.
A beauty from Ali McCann
What a surprise it was to see Ali McCann hit that third goal into the back of the net. We rarely see him shoot never mind score goals like that.
It’s his first ever goal at Deepdale. His first goal in the league since November 2021 and just his fourth in any competition for the club.
He took it so well and hopefully that might give him the confidence to try his luck a few more times in the future.
Good to be back in the goals again
After just four goals in the last 12 league games it was nice to see three in one match. Not since the 9th April had we scored more than one in a league game. Six months!
We’ve been starved and lacking creativity in the team. It will be tough to get any goals against a strong Burnley side on Saturday, but this game showed we could score from a variety of methods.
Still plenty of improvements needed and someone will have to step up in Osmajic’s absence. He is our most all round striker. Emil Riis and Will Keane will need to be more consistent and there is a huge chance for Layton Stewart too.