Preston North End fell to a 2-1 defeat at The Hawthorns on Saturday, with two cracking goals from West Bromwich Albion proving to be enough.
It was Paul Heckingbottom’s team’s first defeat since 30th August, but there were plenty of positives to take away from the game.
After Mikey Johnston had given The Baggies the lead in the first half, Isaac Price continued his good form to add a second. But Michael Smith gave The Lilywhites hope heading into the dying embers of the game when the substitutes were making an impact, but they couldn’t manage to find an equaliser.
Not a happy hunting ground
History tells us that Preston have found The Hawthorns a very tough place to visit. A 2-0 win in 2022 the only time they have left with three points since 1973. West Brom have a strong team this season, but North End have shown they can compete with anyone, and haven’t been overawed by any team thus far.
Away performances against the better teams in the league in recent years have on the whole been very disappointing. Preston often give too much respect to the opposition and as soon as the first goal is conceded heads drop.
But this team has evolved and you could tell fairly early on that the approach to this game would be different.
First half could have been so different
Preston were playing on the front foot when possible, and they had space to counter with the ball. The game was end to end at times but you could tell North End would get chances. Two pivotal moments in the first half could have changed the game completely but unfortunately neither went the way of Heckingbottom’s side.
Milutin Osmajic started the season with three goals in three games but has not scored since. His FA hearing is still dragging on which must be tough to deal with, but he did score in midweek for Montenegro. Milly never lets the opposition defence rest and they were forced into a mistake that saw him through on goal with just Josh Griffiths to beat.
You’d back Milly nine times out of ten to score in this situation, but Griffiths was able to stop the shot with his leg. In hindsight Osmajic had a bit more time and should have lifted the ball a little higher.
The referee made many questionable decisions in the game, but in the first half it looked like Preston should have had a stonewall penalty. Toby Collyer brought Harrison Armstrong down, and in real time it looked as clear as day. The referee had a good view of it, but it looks like we’ll be receiving another apology.
Two huge moments that could easily have swung this game completely in Preston’s favour.
Squad depth
I mentioned it after the win against Charlton Athletic, but the squad depth was on show today even before kick-off. Ali McCann had played two World Cup qualifiers with Northern Ireland during the week so it was understandable that he only started on the bench. Even more so with Preston facing three games inside a week.
Harrison Armstrong started alongside captain Ben Whiteman with Alfie Devine back in the side as well. There’s no doubting McCann’s importance to this team as shown by his contract extension this week, but even without him the team didn’t look any weaker.
Armstrong has already shown his quality, and with such strong options in the midfield Heckingbottom has a variety of choices he can go with, without the quality diminishing.
Impact from the bench
With squad depth, comes increased strength and options from the bench as well. Daniel Jebbison and Michael Smith came on and combined nicely for the goal. Odel Offiah came on at right-back allowing Heckingbottom to switch to a back four and have Dobbin and Jebbison playing off Smith. Mads Frokjaer also came on, who last season most fans would have wanted in the starting lineup for every game, but now he has a big challenge on his hands to get in.
North End couldn’t quite get the equaliser but West Brom will have been worried. Many times before we’ve seen the team go a goal or two down and collapse and end up losing by three or four. But there seems to be a different attitude with this squad, helped by the new characters in the dressing room.
A defeat in the end, but one you can’t be angry about. The commitment is there from the players and on another day this result could have been different.
Home advantage
Next up for Preston is two home games against Birmingham City and Sheffield United. Two teams who will have been tipped for promotion by many in the summer, but neither have been able to get near to those predictions so far.
Birmingham have spent plenty of money in the last two seasons, and with the backing of Tom Brady they have caught the headlines. However they have just one win from their last eight games and on Saturday Jack Robinson picked up his second red card in three games.
Sheffield United started the season with seven straight defeats, with six of those under Ruben Selles before bringing in Chris Wilder for his third spell with the club. Wilder has won two and lost three but the overarching issue is their inability to score. Just four goals from ten games, yet their team is full of very talented players at this level.
Preston have been impressive at home so far with three wins and two draws and they should head into these two games with confidence, and they are more than capable of getting six points from the week.