Preston were beaten 1-0 by Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon – even though Tony Mowbray felt the conditions suited North End better.
Well, here we go again – having to reflect on another derby day no-show from Preston.
The first half may have been encouraging, but North End once again had no answer to going behind.
It was the case against Blackpool, and now against Blackburn. Two derby away days, two defeats, no goals scored.
These games matter so much to fans and yet North End have nothing to show from either game.
This was a weird one. Torrential rain meant the Ewood Park pitch was sticky, the ball was barely moving never mind bouncing.
Football purists won’t have loved watching this one, and there was just the one goal as Ben Brereton Diaz continued his fine season with a superb header.
Yes, Preston had a stonewall penalty turned down, but we can’t just focus on that after another drab performance.
Blackburn boss Mowbray has now commented on the game, suggesting that the conditions actually favoured Preston.
Mowbray pointed to big figures in the Preston side – Josh Earl, Liam Lindsay, Ched Evans and Emil Riis are all tall or physical – but felt that Rovers coped well in a physical battle.
“It’s frustrating when they come off the warm-up and are questioning whether the game should go ahead,” said Mowbray, as quoted by Lancs Live. “It was not a very nice game of football or conducive to what we try to go. It wasn’t a purist day but it was a day to win a game of football.”
“It was blood and thunder and thankfully I am sitting here having won one-nil. Half-an-hour before kick off you have to scrap everything and tell them to put it in behind their full backs – be strong, be a man. They have got some 6ft 4/3 footballers on their team and it might’ve been more suited to them but we managed to get the win in a physical encounter,” he added.