Preston North End v Coventry City

I need to revise my Christmas points total to 6 rather than 4

It's not just a q of what we changed Nelson but what Coventry changed..they ran the show in the first half with Hamer and O'Hare outplaying Browne and Gallagher, not to mention Dabo with his beating of Earl.

After the second goal I thought Coventry's heads dropped a bit..Browne went off after about 10 mins and then Gallagher a bit later. Coventry stopped trying to play through the middle and even went long to the big guy they brought on or tried to get Dabo away down the right. With Potts and Ledson in midfield we looked a lot better and began to control things...but as I say I think this was at least as much down to Coventry changing their approach albeit Ledson and Potts were a big improvement on Browne and Gally.

Enjoy the win

Highlights

www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/teams/preston-north-end/12175192/preston-2-0-coventry

A win is a win for sure BUT, we were awful first half, midfield non existent. Two scrappy goals flatter us but once the second went in and we both made changes we looked much more comfortable. Onwards and upwards, playing below par but winning COYW

Not true...a lot of opinions but usually grounded in facts.

At the outset of the second half, DJ joined the midfield rather than being stuck at the top end of the pitch. AN changed the formation slightly, so we were 352 instead of 343...

This meant that their diamond could not pass round our midfield as they had in the first half as we covered the width of the pitch with DJ, Gally and Browne as a flat 3. In truth from the whistle in the second half we had more control. This improved more when Potts came on for Browne on the right of the three, but Gallagher had started to control possession before going off. I’ll grant you that Browne was poor but think that the way Coventry set up, high press, overload midfield areas led to the half time changes.

Another fact here. 9 points in 3 games. No goals conceded. Can we stop moaning now please?

Here’s another fact. Hunts has played 11 games this season. In 7 of them we have kept a clean sheet. #justsaying

Did not see it but listened to Radio Lancs it seemed we were scrappy and they deserved something. OBVIOUSLY delighted but not over excited pleased for Maguire but good sides, as they have done this season will run all over us. Time to move on.

Yeah I thought Coventry's performance was very reminiscent of some of ours this season. Neat and tidy until the final third where they never created any chances or ever really looked like scoring. A couple of shots from distance that Rudd was comfortable with is all I can remember. And the back 3 looked comfortable with the crosses.

Seemed to me that our plan was to let them play and nick it high when the chance was there. Which we did well at times. Their mistake for the first goal was good play by us as well

Hopefully Potts & Ledo are fit enough to replace Browne & Gally on Saturday, they absolutely bossed that midfield 1st half. Not sure if Dabo is brilliant or Earl really struggled in that role. Thought hunts was lucky there was no VAR for the pull back on their man man when he went to chase the over hit ball in the 1st half, other than that he had a decent game.

Agree I thought Fisher had a good game, Maguire busy and Potts added much needed energy into midfield when he came on. Coventry are very nice on the eye but clearly missed some champ experience. Neil summed it up nicely on radio Rovers, they dictated the game 1st half but never really felt like we were going to loose.

I'll take 3 points any day but I am not fooling myself over the quality of our play. Take Maguire for instance,,,he had a good game last night and one thing you can never criticise him for is a lack of effort. But he is a forward who can not take on anybody and beat them on the deck and doesn't get enough goals.

The speed at which we play the game is seriously pedantic..only Barkhuizen has any real pace and he can't control or pass a ball. On top of which even though we are currently winning games we rarely string more thasn 3 or 4 passes together. It made an enormous difference to the midfield last night when Ledson and Potts started injecting some energy into the midfield.

We've had strokes of fortune in the last two games, sending off at Derby and then the ref missing a foul on Sibley in the 96th minute (had he given it we would not have had time to score) and last night Coventry shooting themselves with poor defending.

There is no fluency or quality to our play.

I readily accept that the sheer number of games and constant enforced team changes makes it difficult to establish any convincing continuity but as long as we continue to play one at the front in home games and AN shows more concern with what the other side can do to you than what you can do to them then I am inclined to think the entertainment value will continue to be low.

These are strange times....the fact that nobody is running away with the division appears to reflect the lack of real quality in the Champ this season.

It means that despite the evident limitations there is the prospect of pressing on....which means beating the teams around us and above us at home in the Champ....and apart from Boro we have yet to do that.

January promises to be avery interesting month...6 matches and not one you could describe as potentially a really tough one. On paper every game is winnable.

AN has some serious decsions to make regarding the team selections especially if Pearson is fit.

Browne has been poor for too long, despite his goals. Earl's limitations defending were cruelly exposed by Dabo last night. Hunts has proven more than worth his place.

I dare say you are right re Hunts Sup...soon as we come up against a side with pace at the front and willing to take Hunts on, but as such a description doesn't apply to most Champ sides I don't think there's too much to worry about.

Problem with Barkhuizen last night is that when he was at the front in the first half our midfield was so woeful and being outplayed that the ball hardly ever reached him. However he did an excellent job when asked to take over from Earl as a wb. It appeared that AN had picked Earl at wb , in front of Hughes, to stop Dabo (looked a very useful winger). Unfortunately Earl was repeatedly skinned and you began to need an abacus to count the crosses Dabo put in. Earl never got tight enough. First thing Barky did was get tight , get his positioning right and stop Dabo. The only cross Dabo got in subsequent to Barky dropping back was before taking him on, from too deep an angle to cause a problem.

In view of the fact that we can't compete with the clubs with Prem money I also suspect the prime issue is one of staying on this div.

In the circumstance I hope that AN changes his approach to Cup competitions when we are at Wycombe. More than time he took such matches seriously and put out his best side to win.

I agree, said that to my lad last night. You only really learn after a tough day at the office. Dabo had one trick, pace and run on the outside. Josh couldn’t get close enough to prevent crosses, Barky however, showed him the inside and he became less effective from the substitution. Impressed with Barky last few games, looks a good player again. Some of his control against Derby was excellent, has really worked on bringing down long passes.

Dabo had more than one asset, he knew how to put a cross in...fortunately for us his team mates were not so adept at the front. He did what I want to see in a winger..beat your man and get in a cross. Thought he gave the best winger display at Deepdale for some time....surprisingly it appears that he is considered to be a right back! I wonder if Earl stood off him because he was afraid of being beaten for pace (which he was anyway)?