Preston striker Cameron Archer has admitted that he learned a lot against Nottingham Forest after studying their lack of pace in defence.
North End faced Forest in the Championship last month and were left gutted after a 0-0 draw at Deepdale.
Preston were the better side against a promotion-chasing team but just couldn’t find the winning goal.
Archer had arguably the best chance having been played in by Brad Potts, but somehow fired wide of the target.
Archer was back in the goals on Saturday as Preston beat Bournemouth at Deepdale, and he has now commented on that night against Forest.
This was a huge test for Archer and he excelled throughout, pulling the Forest back line into channels and causing problems throughout.
That was seemingly something Archer had studied before the game having admitted to the Lancashire Evening Post that he analysed Forest’s back line.
Archer suggests that he realised that Forest had a lack of pace at the back with Joe Worrall, Steve Cook and Scott McKenna in their back three.
Archer has plenty of pace and was able to cause problems all night long but just couldn’t grab that crucial goal.
The way Forest tried to deal with Archer was, at least according to the striker, nudging him off the ball at the right time.
Archer feels that game was a big learning experience for him and taught him a lot about how to deal with experienced central defenders moving forward.
“Playing in the Championship games teaches you all sorts of things. There was the game against Nottingham Forest recently when I played against some experienced players,” said Archer.
“Before the game I had studied their defence and saw that they didn’t have too much pace and they’d looked at me and knew I had pace. So they used their experience to give me nudges at the right time, make sure I didn’t get on the ball too easily. That night against Forest I learned a lot,” he added.
If Archer is to become a Premier league success at Aston Villa, he will absolutely face experienced defenders who deploy similar tactics against him.
That’s why this loan is so vital to his development, allowing him to learn vital skills for the future in order to become a Villa Park hero.