Preston and Watford shared the spoils on a cold February afternoon, as the game kicked into life in the second half. Preston had taken the lead in the first half before a quick fire double put The Hornets ahead. But Milutin Osmajic rescued a point for The Lilywhites on his return from suspension as the game finished 2-2.
Missed opportunity
You felt that the home matches against Portsmouth and Watford had to result in six points. North End had a very poor January following the win against Bristol City on the 4th January. We’ve slipped out of the play-offs and it now looks a battle just to nick 6th place between half the league after just one win in six for Preston.
Paul Heckingbottom’s side picked up a win against Pompey despite it not being pretty, and you would have taken that again on Saturday. It was a positive start to the game with Lewis Dobbin and Alfie Devine central to our attacks as usual.
The first goal came from a throw in, with Ben Whiteman and Devine exchanging passes before the captain found Dobbin in the middle who guiding the ball into the net for his eighth goal of the season.
Watford couldn’t get going in the first half, and even in the first ten minutes of the second period. It felt as if the game was there for the taking, and North End should have got another goal. We were probably lacking some urgency to push for that second goal, and we were a bit slow with ideas when we did have possession.
Struggles in defence
Before you knew it, Watford had taken the lead. Two players who can run at the defence, beat a man and cause problems. Othmane Maamma impressed in the reverse fixture and he was a big threat in the second half. He easily cut in, past Odel Offiah and found the bottom corner to bring the tie level. Kwadwo Baah was subbed on at half time and gave Watford a much better outlet down the right. His cross bounced off Offiah and past Dai Cornell.
On the whole our defence has been very good this season. You back them to defend high crosses into the box, but when they are faced with pace I do worry. When teams are quick to move the ball around in the final third, the three defenders are often found out of position. The fact we play with wing-backs means that they can easily get caught upfield, and then there isn’t another line of defence out wide. A centre back gets drawn out and gaps are created.
McCann
Ali McCann has been back to his best in the last couple of games. An abundance of blocks and turnovers on Saturday, such a key player when he’s on form like that. If only Harrison Armstrong was there to play alongside him, we’d have one of the most energetic midfields in the league.
When Ali is scampering around the pitch like that, throwing himself into tackles, he allows us to keep the pressure on the opponent and focus on attacks. We missed him through injury for too long, and he has taken time to get back to his best, but long may his current form continue.
Vukcevic impresses again
Many; myself included, were not sure about this transfer at the start of the season. Now I would say he is our best option at wing-back. He does exactly what you would want in that position. More often than not when on the ball, he will drive forward and get a cross in.
He rarely goes sideways or backwards, and backs himself to beat his man. Rightly so as well, he has great pace which is used to get up the pitch as well as tracking back to break down attacks. He’s been unlucky with injuries this year, but we are a stronger team with the Montenegrin down the left.
Milly and Lang
Heckingbottom named a strong bench, with attacking options aplenty now with injuries and suspensions overcome and following additions in January. So much so that Milos Lukovic missed out on the squad altogether. The 19-year-old striker signed on loan from Strasbourg, played the first half last week, but was not named in the 20 man squad this week. Hopefully he can get used to the English game quick and make an impact in the remaining games.
Daniel Jebbison returned to the starting lineup but it was not one of his best games. I feel Jebbo plays better when we’re up against it, and playing on the counter, or pressing. He had the ball numerous times on Saturday but he can’t seem to control his legs and often ends up on the floor.
When 2-1 down Hecky eventually rolled the dice and brought on Osmajic and Callum Lang for his debut. Dobbin stayed on and played behind them. Milly and Lang linked up very well together. For the goal Milly won a header from a long ball before Devine released Lang. The former Pompey man calmly kept the ball under a lot of pressure before poking it through for Osmajic. He then turned his man before a left-footed strike found the net at the Town End side.
Lang looked up for it, and was keen to get on the ball as often as possible, urging the crowd on as well. He’s arrived with a lot of well wishes from Portsmouth fans who enjoyed watching him play. You can see why. Someone who plays with his heart on his sleeve. The duo seem like the obvious choice to start the game away to Blackburn Rovers on Friday.
How to get the best players in the team
At 2-2 we had a lot of attacking players on the pitch, and Heckingbottom chose to withdraw Dobbin for Andrew Hughes to try and stifle Watford’s pressure. Dobbin was understandably disappointed at coming off, but he has been substituted every single game he has started bar one this season.
For the first time in his spell at Preston, Heckingbottom has a lot of options at the top end of the pitch. However our current formation doesn’t allow for too many to play together at once. Two strikers at most are accompanied by a number 10 as our most attacking option. Even in that formation it can sometimes mean Devine misses out.
There could be an option for Devine to play in a midfield two with McCann but I don’t think Heckingbottom would go for that. Devine can offer more than Whiteman in that position. He can still battle and win duels, and he can do a lot more on the ball.
With Devine and McCann as a midfield two you can look at playing Dobbin just behind Osmajic and Lang. We need to win as many games as possible in the last third of the season. Whilst different oppositions will lead to different set-ups, for me, this would be our strongest set-up to attack games.
You could still then have Andrew Moran, Milos Lukovic, Daniel Jebbison and Michael Smith as options off the bench.