Preston North End picked up a valuable three points with a 2-0 victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate. The Robins were on the back of a 5-0 victory on New Year’s Day but after Lewis Dobbin’s early goal, The Lilywhites were in control of the game.
Alfie Devine added a second goal in the 70th minute and Bristol City could not surmount any sort of comeback. Preston are now up to 4th in the table and at half time were only one point from second place, however Middlesbrough went on to thrash Southampton 4-0.
The loan boys
Preston have struck gold in the loan market once again. Whilst Harrison Armstrong was coming off the bench for Everton it was two other young players who were making the difference for North End. Dobbin scored his 7th goal in all competitions whilst Devine made it five for the season. Add to that the five from Daniel Jebbison as well and it shows how crucial the loan signings have been.
There’s a whole raft of players who have excelled in temporary spells at the club over the last few years, but this crop have really pushed us onto the next level. Armstrong aside, it could be viable to see them sign for the club permanently, but all three would cost a good chunk of money, and we may have to have a preference.
After difficult loan spells at other clubs for all three as well, they now all seem to be enjoying their time at Preston, and they’ve bought into what the club is about, gelling with their teammates in the process.
Dobbin and Devine took their goals very well, and you can always rely on them to pop up at key times with a bit of quality.
2nd best away form in the league
Who would have thought it? Last season, games on the road were dull and results were few and far between. We went 18 months between away wins in the league on a Saturday, but this season the travelling faithful have had plenty to celebrate.
That was our 5th away win of the season, with Bristol City joining the list with Derby County, Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday and Oxford United. 20 points won away from home with only Coventry City picking up more, although they have played an extra game.
In the whole of last season, we picked up just 17 points away from Deepdale. There is more belief in this side now, and they go into each game knowing they can get a result.
This was a great away performance, scoring goals at key times, and the defence ensured Daniel Iversen didn’t have much to do. Ben Whiteman and Jordan Thompson were calm and collected in the middle too, breaking up play numerous times and keeping attacks flowing.
Depth at wing-back
Wing-backs have always been a contentious issue ever since Frankie McAvoy adopted the formation. Ryan Lowe stuck with it, despite failing to sign a proper wing-back, and even last season Heckingbottom was at times putting square pegs in round holes.
Now I’m still not a massive fan of the formation and would prefer to have attacking wingers, however, at least we have some options in those positions now. Heckingbottom has been rotating those options across the festive period which is good because last year as we saw with Brad Potts, he was exhausted after playing so many games in an exhausting role.
Jamal Lewis is getting better with each game, whilst Pol Valentin has proved to be a shrewd acquisition for the right hand side. We know what Thierry Small can do, whilst Andrija Vukcevic has an incredible burst of pace and cross on him.
Then there is still Potts and maybe at some stage in the season Robbie Brady will return. There are options off the bench now, and different types of players too, allowing Heckingbottom to be more flexible.
Time to push on
Not many would have predicted us to be in this position at this stage of the season. Not since Alex Neil’s last full season in 2019/20 have we been in such a promising place. That January transfer window we added Scott Sinclair which was ambitious, but Covid hit, and we didn’t quite pick up where we left off once the season resumed.
There could be an argument from the board, that the current squad is working, and the budget remains the same, but surely there has to be an angle to consider, where if possible, a further injection of funds made available this month could have a tremendous effect which could see the club not have to worry about money in the same way for a generation.
It’s a gamble either way, and there is no formula that guarantees success, but you feel a couple of quality additions this window could really elevate Heckingbottom’s team. Fans will be hesitant when it comes to the final run of 10 fixtures either way, due to the catastrophic ending to last season, and campaigns before that.
The Championship is likely to go down to the wire once again when it comes to the top six, but Preston must fancy their chances of being in the mix. They have to. It’s a very open league with teams up there who had not been predicted to be in the summer.
Coventry are still strong favourites, but second place has come back into contention with Middlesbrough letting a bit of a gap slip. Some big games are coming up this month, but Preston will be a tantalising proposition for both loan and permanent options.