Football returned to a Deepdale with a bang on Saturday. Preston North End fans were treated to a great spectacle as The Lilywhite deservedly beat recently relegated Leicester City.
The Foxes headed into the game as heavy favourites, but Preston more than matched their counterparts with a committed performance for the full 90 minutes. An early goal from Alfie Devine set the tone before a Milutin Osmajic winner ensured the Preston faithful could enjoy the rest of their weekend with smiles on their faces.
Deepdale back to its best
The end to last season has been widely spoken about, and the dismal run of form nearly resulted in relegation. It had been five months since Preston had won in the league, and only once at Deepdale since the end of January.
After a mixed summer off the field, fans could have been forgiven for not expecting much from a Leicester team still full of players from their Premier League campaign. However a strong opening from Preston set the tone. They were on the front foot and taking the game to Leicester.
We took the lead with a quick bit of play from Daniel Iversen and Pol Valentin who released Devine down the right. Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk came rushing out of his area for some reason, and Devine was able to nudge it past him before scoring from a tight angle.
From there on in Paul Heckingbottom’s side continued to push for more goals, and should have had at least another before Leicester levelled. The fans appreciated the effort going into the 90 minutes though and we were causing problems. In the past the team has seemed devoid of ideas on how to create chances, but they were arriving from a variety of places now.
The atmosphere on Saturday was great, and the fans were treated to a late winner which saw Osmajic standing proud once again in front of the Town End, and the superb Thierry Small jumping into the home fans.
Even if the result hadn’t gone our way, the fans could not have complained with the effort from the players, and the majority of those in Deepdale stayed beyond the final whistle to applaud the team off.
Thierry Small
Our standout signing of the summer, Thierry Small arrived from Charlton Athletic, with his display against North End in the FA Cup in January igniting interest in his services. Whilst expectations for the 21-year-old should be tempered for the first few months of his Preston career it is easy to get excited about what he brings to this team.
We’ve struggled in the wing-back area ever since we adopted this formation. Small could see major improvements on this front. Playing on the left on Saturday, Leicester struggled to cope with him. Pace, power, and trickery up his sleeve, he will definitely get fans off their seats.
He seems a character as well, quite a few times turning to the crowd to get them going, and even ending up in the crowd after the winning goal.
His assist for Osmajic was inch perfect as well. The Montenegrin had played the ball out wide to Small who still had a lot of work to do, but he was quickly able to get up the pitch before finding his teammate with a lovely left-footed ball. They look to have a great connection already.
Small also did his fair share of defending in the match keeping the usually impressive Abdul Fatawu very quiet. It’s going to be exciting to watch Small develop, and he seems to be relishing the opportunity to play for Preston North End.
On the front foot
Usually up against strong sides such as Leicester, we will sit deep and soak up the pressure, but this time around we well and truly took the game to them. The first goal was always going to be key, and if it had gone the other way I think we would have struggled.
But we gained confidence with the strong start and we were able to create numerous chances. Michael Smith came close with a header on an impressive home debut. He linked up with Milly well, and we’ve bene missing that type of striker for some time. He also showed good energy, and was key in both areas.
Alfie Devine was confident in going forward as well. His approach was to drive with the ball and find the gaps without it. He took up good positions out wide at times, and his run and finish for the goal was perfect. He looks set to fill the gap left by Sam Greenwood and Duane Holmes.
Osmajic could have scored a couple more goals in truth; fluffing his lines after a Devine cut back and coming close in the last minute. We were looking good from long balls forward with Milly’s pace around the back causing problems but also from Smith’s flick ons.
By the same token that wasn’t our only route, runs with the ball from Small and Devine were opening up the Leicester defence, so much so that they had to double up on Small eventually.
Promising to see numerous chances created after a game against Barrow that suggested we would struggle on that front. Even when Leicester looked dangerous at 1-1 we were able to take advantage on the counter attack, massively helped by the fact Small and Osmajic can get up and down the pitch so quickly.
Welcome back Daniel Iversen
It’s so good to have Daniel Iversen back in goal after a three year absence. We all knew from his loan spell between 2021 and 2022 that the Dane was a talented keeper. However his value was high and the signing of Freddie Woodman made sense at the time. Unfortunately mistakes crept into Woodman’s game, and it was the correct thing to explore other options this summer.
Iversen was available on a free transfer, and after a frustrating few years at Leicester he will have enjoyed getting the win over his former employers. Their number one didn’t cover himself in glory for the first goal, but Iversen showed his value to the team with an outstanding stop in the second half.
He had no right to claw the ball out with a rapid reaction when The Foxes looked certain to score from Fatawu. The defence seem more confident with Iversen behind them and he’s also already had a hand in two goals for us this season.
Depth
We haven’t been able to name a full bench yet this season, but obviously we do have a high number of injuries for this stage. That said, Jeppe Okkels aside who rarely gets a chance, our only attacking option on the bench on Saturday was 16 year-old Michael Ayodele. Great experience for him, but if we had have been chasing the game in a different manner, Heckingbottom wouldn’t have had many options to mix it up in the final third.
Michael Smith showed good energy throughout but he won’t be able to do that for 90 minutes all season. The injury to Daniel Jebbison is a shame at this stage as he could have done with making a fast start. Will Keane’s future is up in the air as well, so despite the result, additions are still needed to add more quality to this squad.
Everyone had a good game at the weekend, but there will be occasions where some players have an off day and we will need fresh legs in all areas.
A great result though and a really enjoyable game. An even tougher game next week against Ipswich Town. But with the determination and fight shown from this win, epitomised particularly by Ali McCann who was superb throughout, Preston can go to battle with The Tractor Boys in high spirits.