Boss Alex Neil questions need for water breaks in Preston North End’s run-in

Since the restart, there has been a water break in both halves of matches around the 22 minute mark.

The breaks were brought in taking into account the campaign was going into the summer months and players had spent a long time out of action due to the pandemic.

Preston manager Neil says the breaks are being used more as a time-out, allowing manager and coaches to speak with their players.

He has no issue with the breaks if the weather is hot but wonders why they are necessary in every game.

Neil said: “The water breaks are affecting the momentum of lot of games I have watched.

“I don’t think they are necessary in every game.

“We played in the middle of a tsunami last week, it didn’t need a drinks break.

“If it is hot, yes by all means have the breaks but at the moment the weather is fluctuating.

“If a team is on top in a game the last thing they want is a break for the other team to regroup and fix what has been going wrong.

“We are playing four quarters because the water breaks don’t just last 10 seconds. Everyone gets their players in and have a little talk before sending them back out.”

Neil, meanwhile, thinks the use of five substitutes will become more important in the next week or so.

He said: “Once you have played your fifth or sixth game, going into your seventh, eighth, ninth, is really going to stretch the players.

“Some might only have 60 minutes in their legs and that is when having the extra couple of subs could help.”