And
there it is. A first league defeat in controversial circumstances at old rivals
Swindon Town. Now comes a true test of
this team’s seemingly strong belief and character, moreso than during games
where a defeat had looked on the cards as this team now needs to show how it
reacts to a loss, especially one which angered and frustrated manager, players
and fans alike.
Steve
Cotterill’s temperament and approach will be critical this week. If he has spent the week getting the players
to channel their emotions productively, then Preston could feel the
backlash. If it’s been a week of
feelings of injustice and despondency, the outcome could be somewhat different.
Being 'up for it' seems to be most fans' desire after such a defeat, but without control, that can sometimes be an approach which loses you the sense of purpose and planning with which we have achieved so much this season. When you throw in the loss of your captain and midfield lynchpin into that mix,
due to the moment of most scrutiny, it all adds up to a huge afternoon for
these promotion hopefuls.
Someone
has to step up and fill Wade Elliott’s boots, be the man the others look to if
tempers threaten to boil over and drive the determination for success, especially
with Neil Kilkenny certain to be determined to show the fans at Ashton Gate what
he occasionally demonstrated in his short time in BS3.
Great
teams are made on how they deal with adversity, if this side is to even
approach that relative level, then the reaction in this game – and the one
against Posh next week – is going to be key.
Stu
Radnedge flew in from his holidays in the Far East to secure an interview with
Dave Seddon, @Sedds_LEP who is a lifelong Preston fan who covers his club for
the Lancashire Evening Post. My
sincere thanks to both for this great review:
“As Bristol City attempt to
stomach last week's defeat at Swindon, Preston have been suffering some
indigestion of their own recently. The
Lilywhites are suffering a November wobble, eight straight wins - seven of
those in the league - giving way to three successive League One defeats. It is not a complete
leg-buckling job, North End having beaten Havant and Waterlooville very
comfortably in the FA Cup.
However, their form in the bread and butter
of the league has not made Deepdale the happiest of places of late. So some
sections of Preston's travelling support will be heading to Ashton Gate this
weekend with an air of trepidation, while others see the top three clash as an
opportunity for PNE to shake off their dip in form and test themselves against
a side who have been setting the pace at the summit.
This is the club's fourth campaign in League
One since the relegation season of 2010/11 - overseen first by Darren Ferguson
and then Phil Brown. Brown was left in charge to try and lead them back at the
first time of asking and then came the Graham Westley era which lasted 13
months and won few friends.
Now the task has fallen on the shoulders of
Simon Grayson, his track record at this level an attractive one after
promotions with Blackpool, Leeds and Huddersfield. Grayson is 21 months into
the job and this is seen as the season in which he can put a fourth promotion
on his managerial CV. When he was appointed in February 2013, his first task
was a rescue act to stave off the threat of relegation - something achieved
with a degree of comfort.
Last season saw Grayson steadily stamp his
mark on the squad although it was still a work in progress in moving on
inherited players and bringing in his own targets. In spells they flirted with
automatic promotion but never hit the top two, although were rarely out of the
top six.
Ultimately North End's hopes of going up
were ended by Rotherham in the play-offs, Kieran Agard scoring one of the
Millers' goals in the semi-final second leg. Preston [like City! – ER] don't do
the play-offs, with defeat to Rotherham their ninth failure in the end of
season knock out, so all eyes are on clinching one of the two automatic
promotion slots as they seek to return to the Championship and the increase in
revenue that brings.
Talk to different Preston fans and you will
get differing opinions of the suitability of the squad to sustain a promotion
charge. In Joe Garner they have a striker who over the last 12 months has in
lethal form in front of goal. Until November 2 last year, 10 months in the
shirt of the club he supported as a boy had produced just a single goal. Now he
has 36 goals to his name and in the summer North End had to bat off strong
interest from Rotherham and Ipswich. Many
of the 12 goals Garner has scored this season have come with him playing in a
lone centre-forward role.
Not that he is totally shy of company,
Grayson's preferred formation of late having been the 4-2-3-1. The wingers are
encouraged to get close to Garner rather than stay out on the touchline, while
behind him, Paul Gallagher provides support in the No.10 role. Some supporters
though, would love to see another striker playing alongside Garner in a 4-4-2
system which seems the favourite of many. Arguing against that, 4-4-2 can leave
teams shy in the centre of midfield and there were games last season when that
happened.
Callum Robinson is another goal threat for
North End, the teenager having joined on loan from Aston Villa in September. He
has tended to play on the left side of Garner and was the hat-trick hero in the
3-0 win over Havant.
Chris Humphrey has a good turn of pace down
the right-wing and has found his feet after what many people saw as an
inconsistent first season at Deepdale following a Bosman move from Motherwell. Right-back
Scott Wiseman will be back in the frame after missing last week's defeat to
Bradford. He was otherwise engaged on international
duty, playing for minnows Gibraltar against Germany. So after a night chasing
Thomas Muller around Nuremberg, his next stop is Ashton Gate.
A member of the Preston midfield familiar to
Robins fans will be Neil Kilkenny. The Australian has become a key player in
the engine room, given licence to pick the ball up deep and build play. Some
fans get frustrated by his sideways passing but better ball retention and
patience in possession has been preached by Grayson this season.
This weekend's game is part of a busy
schedule on the road for North End. They had four successive midweek trips to
Gillingham, Leyton Orient, Swindon and Havant. Last Saturday's home game
against Bradford was a brief respite from the travelling, with the visit to
Ashton Gate followed by a JPT visit to Oldham on Tuesday night and then next
weekend's trip back down the M5 to Yeovil - we'll give you a wave on the way
past!”
A great review of our opponent’s strengths and weaknesses
from Dave. My thanks to him again.
COYR!
The Exiled Robin
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