Confidence ebbed away after positive first half - Preston fan John Smith assesses the 2-0 loss to Sheffield United

Ryan Lowe was also of the same opinion beforehand describing them as the “cream of the crop”.

Since their only league loss on the opening day of the season they have won six and drawn two of their last eight league games and similar to cream had risen to the top of the Championship.

However in the first half we played some fine football and up until the Blades scored after some sloppy defending four minutes before the interval, we had looked like we were the side with the thicker texture after making our opponents look more like a tub of Elmlea.

It was a different type of game than the credible midweek draw with Burnley but up until we conceded the all important first goal, I felt that we were just short of that one final quality ball in the box or a lucky break which would have given us a deserved lead.

The goal seemed to drain the life out of both our players and fans alike and our second half performance – like the Deepdale atmosphere – went very flat.

The crowd unrest increased when a sizable contingent of home fans vociferously questioned the decision to make a triple substitution with just over 20 minutes to go.

When we conceded a second goal after another piece of sloppy defending shortly afterwards it was virtually game over with the eventual loss meaning that our run of three successive home games has yielded just one measly point.

Our faults this season lie mainly in the lack of goals scored with our tally of just three goals in 10 league games being a real shocker of a statistic.

On paper at the start of the season the pairing of last season's 20 goal striker Emil Riis with Troy Parrott – a loanee on a long term Premier League contract – looked potentially to be a dynamic young striking partnership.

Sadly though this has not been the case and in my opinion both now look short of confidence.

With our squad ruthlessly cut to the bare bones in numbers by penny conscious owners this summer unfortunately we now have limited options for change and no better replacements in this department.

With 10 games of the season now played, it looks to me like we may be in for another long hard winter.

The lack of investment from the club’s owners in not buying a wing back and striker is now draining away the pre-season positivity of an increasing number of fans as these shortcomings become more exposed.