Dave Seddon’s pressview: Only three points will do for Preston against Birmingham City

It is over used and often a victory isn’t the be all and end all.

But in Preston North End’s case, their Deepdale clash with Birmingham City most definitely does fall into the must-win category.

It is win or bust in terms of their faint chances of being in the play-offs.

Even three points would not be enough if Cardiff go to Middlesbrough and win.

That would end Preston’s top-six hopes for another season.

However, a PNE victory coupled with Cardiff not winning would at least take the interest into the final game at Bristol City on Wednesday night.

It is the hope that kills you isn’t it? North End’s push for the play-offs since the turn of the year has jangled nerves and toyed with emotions.

Things were going rather swimmingly until the middle of November, there even being a 24-hour period when they sat proudly on top of the Championship.

They beat Charlton 1-0 at The Valley on November 3 to go the summit, before a win for West Bromwich Albion the following night knocked them off.

North End won the next week against Huddersfield but then came one of those pesky international breaks, after which their form started to dip.

It’s been peaks and troughs since then, with unfortunately more troughs than peaks.

Going into the weekend it is one win in 10 matches for the Lilywhites.

With that recent record is quite surprising that there remains a chance of making the top six, however unlikely that might be. That highlights how some of the teams around them have been similarly inconsistent and unable to take full advantage.

Two results – 20 or so hours apart – this week left PNE needing snookers in terms of the play-offs.

Cardiff beat Derby on Tuesday to pull five points ahead, with North End losing at Brentford on Wednesday teatime.

Brentford was always going to be tough, after all the Bees had won seven on the spin going into it.

Also, Griffin Park has rarely been a hunting happy ground these last few years.

Yet the 1-0 defeat was still an opportunity missed.

North End went with a clear game plan to stifle their hosts and play on the break.

So to concede less than four minutes in could have been said to have left the plan in tatters.

It did and it didn’t. You feared Brentford might have gone on and got a hatful.

That didn’t happen, in fact they created little from then on.

From North End’s point of view, they had to open up at some stage in order to push for an equaliser.

Even with the rigid game plan, they had a couple of good chances to equalise.

Tom Barkhuizen got behind the home defence and saw David Raya glove his shot behind.

Then Darnell Fisher forced a diving save from the keeper with a well-struck free-kick.

When the shackles came off and the system changed during the second half, it didn’t bring much joy.

In the end it was just a mass of attacking players on the field with little structure in the build-up.

We are going over old ground here in that Preston don’t have sufficient craft to break teams down.

Gradually over the course of the season they have been blunted going forward and the squad is crying out for fresh attacking impetus.

Wednesday was a sixth defeat in seven visits to Griffin Park – a 1-1 draw there in February 2018 the one bright spot.

North End fans do have a soft spot for the venue though, even if the trips from a results point of view haven’t been good.

The pub on each corner of the ground makes for an enjoyable day out.

So too the chance to stand at a Championship game on the division’s only remaining terraces.

The gates will shut at Griffin Park for the last time soon, as they move a bit further along the A4 to a new stadium.

It might be that Brentford celebrate moving into their new home with Premier League football.

You wouldn’t bet against that with the way they are playing and with the strike force they have available.

For their front three of Ollie Watkins, Bryan Mbeumo and Said Benrahma to have scored 57 league goals between them this season, is remarkable.

Of the trio, Mbeumo has got the least number of goals with 15 – if North End had a striker with that tally we would be doing cartwheels.

I think it would refreshing to see Brentford in the Premier League, in that their approach and ‘model’ is a little different to the norm.

A ‘moneyball’ approach is at the heart of it, with it very statistics driven.

They scour the European markets widely and not necessarily the obvious ones.

It must be said that they spend a few quid too, their outlay for some signings quite big but in the knowledge they have the potential to be sold on for far bigger amounts.

It is easy to ask why not copy the model? But straight forward copies rarely work.

Brentford’s push into their current position has been a patient build.

They were promoted from League One 12 months before PNE – their April 2014 win over Preston saw them go up – and the Bees have so far reached the Championship play-offs once.

So there hasn’t been a waving of a magic wand, this isn’t an instant success model.

Gradually though, with a few bumps along the way in terms of having to change managers, Brentford are pushing hard to be sitting at the top table of English football.

One thing I won’t miss about Griffin Park is the rather cramped press box.

In terms of my height, I don’t exactly stand on the highest step but even I struggle with leg room!