There has been huge excitement about the progress Preston North End have made since the arrival of Ryan Lowe. The scene was set on Saturday. The Kop was open for home fans, there was a discount on tickets to help boost the numbers. Furthermore Preston were heavy favourites against a side who hadn’t won a game since November.
In almost typical Preston style the hopes and aspirations of another morale boosting win were almost instantly extinguished. A loss like this; despite a late comeback to make it 3-2 suddenly makes you think the season is dwindling down rather than shaping up for a late play-off push.
Sepp and Bauer not at the races
It was possibly Sepp van den Berg’s worst game for the club since his arrival 12 months ago. It’s been a pleasure to watch him develop over that time but on Saturday he was sloppy. He didn’t provide anything going forward with his passing way off, which isolated Brad Potts at times.
He struggled defensively as well, losing 50-50’s and overall not keeping a good shape with the rest of the defence.
Patrick Bauer has perhaps not been at his absolute best of late. He’s still our most commanding defender when it comes to aerial battles at both ends of the pitch but he was given a torrid time by Lucas João on Saturday. The Portuguese striker always seems to play well against us, as does midfielder John Swift. They contributed to all three goals for Reading as they cut through the Preston defence with ease. The goals were embarrassing to concede with the Royals not needing to show too much quality.
Bauer’s agility has been questioned but there aren’t too many other options. Liam Lindsay did a decent enough job when he came on and could find himself starting the next game with Bauer in need of a rest.
Potts substitution was a strange one
The first half an hour was awful and was reminiscent of the Graham Westley era. It was a cold day but it took about 60 minutes for the North End team to defrost. After going two goals down early on, an early substitution was to be expected, but it was a surprise to see Brad Potts hooked.
He was one player to have shown a desire to attack up the pitch and push forward. I don’t think he was doing too much wrong. Taking off one of the central midfielders or centre-backs would have made more sense.
Lindsay may have shored up the defence a little bit but it was in the middle of the park that was the biggest problem. I hope Potts doesn’t take it to heart as he has been one of three best players under Ryan Lowe and has made that right-wing back position his own.
Scott Sinclair had some success after the switch around on that side but I feel the introduction of Ali McCann as well as Ryan Ledson at half time would have reaped more rewards.
Sinclair puts himself into contention for future starts
Ryan Lowe confirmed after the game that Josh Earl had been left out of the squad for tactical reasons. It meant Sinclair initially started on that left hand side. It gave the side more of an attacking impetus with Earl not offering much in the final third of late.
Sinclair did very well to chase down a lost cause and win possession on the byline in the first half. It was squared to Emil Riis who had a simple task of scoring from six yards out. Instead he aimed for the window from the old football museum in the corner of the stadium.
Sinclair kept going in the second half now on the right hand side. He cut in at one stage nipping in front of the defence and would have scored if he’d been able to keep his curling shot down.
We know he has qualities that are hugely useful but this formation hasn’t suited him this season. With injuries and other players out of form he could be set to get a little bit of a run in the side giving himself a chance of getting a contract extension.
At least 2 of the midfield to be dropped
Where do we start with that midfield? Daniel Johnson was lacklustre and looked tired. Perhaps his international duty with Jamaica has caught up with him. He did manage a goal but it was actually very close to being denied as DJ took a little bit too long to get a shot away.
Ben Whiteman was way off pace. The usual dictator of play in the quarterback role was very quiet. He didn’t track any of the runners who breezed through the middle and he was unable to get on the ball to make any impact.
Alan Browne has had a bit of a revival under Lowe but on Saturday he also looked tired. We saw a masterclass from Han-Noah Massengo in the Bristol City game three weeks ago and against Reading Browne was again left chasing shadows. He improved in the second half with a few nice turns but he was lacking his usual energy.
Question marks should also be raised over his captaincy in my opinion. Going a goal down after 70 seconds. 2-0 down at half time, and then 3-0 shortly after. Your captain should be rallying the players. Screaming at them to get them going. Obviously we don’t see what happens in the dressing room but there was no display of that on the pitch. The only ones barking instructions and trying to kickstart them were Daniel Iversen and then Ched Evans when he came on.
There’s no obvious captain candidates in the squad but we are missing that Tom Clarke type figure.
Surely we will see McCann and Ledson come into the side for the game against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday?