Preston complete home week double

10/04/2024 01:14 PM

Having beaten Plymouth last Tuesday, it's Preston who are at Turf Moor tomorrow before we go into the second international break of the season.

It was hardly inspiring football at times against Plymouth but of most importance was the result and coming out with three points ensured we came out of the midweek fixtures in second place, just one point behind Sunderland. We could drop to third tonight but should we do so, it will mean Leeds have won at Sunderland.

It's difficult to evaluate the start to the season in some respects. The results, generally, have been very good with five wins from the eight games. Of those not won, two of them came when the squad was firstly in turmoil at Sunderland and then when they hardly knew each other for the home game against Blackburn. That just leaves last Saturday at Oxford as possibly the only really disappointing result.

However, the performances, at times, have not been as exciting as we might have liked them to be. We've scored fourteen goals from our eight games but we have to remember that nine of those goals came in the first two games when we had a lot of players involved who are no longer with us. For example, three of the four goalscorers in the opening day 4-1 win at Luton were Wilson Odobert, Dara O'Shea and Vitinho who have all since departed.

One week later, Zeki Amdouni and Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson were the scorers of the last two goals in the 5-0 win against Cardiff. They too are no longer Burnley players although technically Amdouni is having joined Benfica on loan.

That leaves us having scored just five goals in the six games since although the really good news is that those games have seen us concede just three times with only Portsmouth having found our net in the last four games.

So on to Preston. From the 1996/97 season right through to 2008/09 we were in the same division, but this will be just the fourth season since with us spending time in the Premier League and Preston in League One. They did win one of those three games at Burnley too, beating us 2-0 in December 2015 with goals from Will Keane and Daniel Johnson. Only QPR have won a Championship game at Turf Moor since.

Brownhill said: "This weekend a few of the lads will hear it's a bit of a derby. Some of them might not understand why because they thought Blackburn was, and we tell them it's a local derby, there's a lot riding on it, the fans are so passionate about these games around our area. To be the pride of these games, the pride of Lancashire. We want to knock everybody out of the park and show them we're the best team around this area. We let them know that for sure, it's definitely not going to be easy."

He added: "I think it is important to have people that are from around this area, that have been around here for a while, in the dressing room because sometimes if you take too much of that out, you sort of lose the connection to what it means to everybody here at the football club, the fans and everybody. I always think it's very important to have new players in of course, you need to have new players in to bring in that buzz, but you also need players that have been here for a while who understand everything about the club."

Brownhill has captained the side this season and led the way for Scott Parker's team and ahead of tomorrow's game, Parker said: "We're in a really good place, we're winning games and I'm really happy with the team and how they have developed, but there is more to come from this team. There's always room for improvement, whether it be before the season starts or with one game of the season left. Things evolve and change and there's always ways you can get better."

He added: "We've lost one game this season, we're showing real signs of threat and you could see that on Tuesday, but overall I'm more than pleased with where we are and the boys have been first class."

Parker spoke about the back four and how well they've done. It hadn't occurred to me just how young it is too. On Tuesday, in front of goalkeeper James Trafford, who is 21, we had Bashir Humphreys (21), CJ Egan-Riley (21), Maxime Estève (22) and Lucas Pires (23). Overall it's a young team; the oldest player who started against Plymouth was Josh Brownhill who is 28.

It doesn't look as though there will be too much in terms of options tomorrow. Ten of the first team squad were unavailable against Plymouth through injury with potentially just Connor Roberts and Zian Flemming, who are both back in training, having a chance of playing.

The team against Plymouth was: James Trafford, Bashir Humphreys, CJ Egan-Riley, Maxime Estève, Lucas Pires, Josh Cullen, Josh Brownhill, Luca Koleosho, Hannibal, Jaidon Anthony, Lyle Foster. Subs: Václav Hladký, John Egan, Owen Dodgson, Han-Noah Massengo, Josh Laurent, Jeremy Sarmiento, Enock Agyei, Andréas Hountondji, Jay Rodriguez.

Preston have had a strange start to the season. They kicked off on opening night with a 2-0 home defeat against Sheffield United but I don't think anyone at the club could have predicted what happened next.

Within days, manager Ryan Lowe left by mutual consent although it was Lowe who instigated the change. Mike Marsh was given caretaker charge for their League Cup tie against Sunderland, which they won, and the league game at Swansea, which saw them beaten. He promptly resigned.

That meant a third manager for game three but by then they'd appointed Paul Heckingbottom. He started with a win, then two defeats sandwiching two draws, before claiming his second victory in charge two days ago when the beat Watford 3-0 at Deepdale.

They currently sit just outside the bottom three in the table with all but one of their eight points coming at Deepdale from those two victories, the first of them against Luton, and a goalless draw against Blackburn, the result of which will hit them for the next eight games.

One of the likely replacements for Osmajić, who scored twice against Watford, is Will Keane who was ruled out in midweek with a dead leg. Preston will also be without Patrick Bauer who is recovering from surgery.

The Preston team against Watford was: Freddie Woodman, Jordan Storey, Liam Lindsay, Andrew Hughes, Kaine Kesler-Hayden, Ali McCann, Ben Whiteman, Stefán Þórðarson, Robbie Brady, Mads Frøkjær-Jensen, Milutin Osmajić. Subs: David Cornell, Josh Bowler, Duane Holmes, Emile Riis, Ryan Ledson, Jeppe Okkels, Brad Potts, Layton Stewart, Jack Whatmough.

LAST TIME THEY WERE HERE

This was a game I was forced to miss because of Covid but it was a brilliant day for the Clarets and in particular Nathan Tella who scored a hat trick in our 3-0 win.

The teams were;

Burnley: Arijanet Muric, Connor Roberts, Hjalmar Ekdal (Charlie Taylor 81), Jordan Beyer, Ian Maatsen, Josh Brownhill (Scott Twine 81), Josh Cullen, Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson (Jack Cork 73), Nathan Tella (Michael Obafemi 73), Anass Zaroury, Ashley Barnes (Lyle Foster 61). Subs not used: Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Vitinho.

Preston: Freddie Woodman, Liam Lindsay, Jordan Storey, Andrew Hughes, Alan Browne, Robbie Brady (Alvaro Carreras 68), Ali McCann, Ryan Ledson (Ben Whiteman ht), Ben Woodburn (Troy Parrott ht), Liam Delap, Thomas Cannon (Josh Onomah 68).

LAST TWENTY SEASONS

2004/05
Home: W 2-0, Blake(2)
Away: L 0-1
2005/06
Away: D 0-0
Home: L 0-2
2006/07
Home: W 3-2, J O’Connor, St. Ledger(og), Gray
Away: L 0-2
2007/08
Home: L 2-3, Lafferty, McCann
Away: L 1-2, J O’Connor
2008/09
Home: W 3-1, Guðjónsson, Caldwell, Eagles
Away: L 1-2, Blake
2010/11
Home: W 4-3, Iwelumo(3), Rodriguez
Away: W 2-1, Rodriguez, Cork
2013/14
Home: W 2-, Trippier, Ings (League Cup)
2015/16
Home: L 0-2
Away: W 1-0, Barton
2022/23
Away: D 1-1, Harwood-Bellis
Home: W 3-0, Tella(3)