Dave Seddon's verdict: Preston North End 0 Cardiff City 1 - a predictable outcome at Deepdale

The contest pitched a side uncomfortable about playing at Deepdale against visitors who suit playing on the road.

So no surprise that Cardiff headed back to South Wales with three points, courtesy of a fine finish at the end of a counter-attack which really should have halted at source.

Sheyi Ojo struck in the 52nd minute with the one real piece of quality in a game which won’t have done a great deal for Sky’s ratings.

North End still had a very decent chunk of the second half to get back into it but rarely looked like doing so.

Their attacking play was in the main predictable, only late on did they have a couple of headed chances.

Cardiff’s blue wall was superbly marshalled by Sean Morrison, although he will be given tougher tests in some aspects of his play than the one PNE gave him.

Crosses and high balls lifted in the box were meat and drink to the visitors’ skipper and we didn’t get to find out how a bit of craft and guile would have tested him.

This was a carbon copy of the defeats to Swansea and Stoke last month, a third 1-0 home loss in a row.

In all three, North End laboured going forward and lacked attacking ideas.

Contrast that to how they have played on the road this season – four points collected and six goals scored in visits to Norwich and Brentford.

Throw into the equation as well the win in the Carabao Cup at fellow Championship club Derby County.

At the moment, travelling is bringing far more joy than staying at home.

That is not unique to PNE mind you. All of Cardiff’s seven points this season have come away, with them losing both home matches.

The worry for North End is their home form to date this season is following on from a Deepdale dip in the second half of the 2019/20 season.

They lost four of their last seven home games last term either side of the restart.

While I accept they are missing the fans, PNE are in the same boat as everyone else during this era of empty grounds.

Maybe it is comforting that their two games this week are on the road, at QPR on Wednesday and Huddersfield next Saturday.

Then it’s back home though, for matches with Millwall and Birmingham.

This was the third clash in a row between North End Cardiff which had been chosen by Sky Sports for live broadcast.

Last season’s two offerings were hardly classics but still they chose to send their cameras to Deepdale for a Sunday lunchtime clash.

North End had been at their Sunday best a fortnight earlier when they’d roared back from 2-0 down to beat Brentford 4-2.

Not surprisingly, Alex Neil stuck with the starting XI which had done much of the work in West London but they couldn’t conjure-up a repeat of some of their attacking play of 14 days previously.

The first half was typical fodder for games in this division, a battle of attrition to start with before play opened up slightly more.

Cardiff had a decent spell on top either side of the half hour which North End weathered ahead of what we hoped would be a half-time reorganisation.

However, the second half was just seven minutes old when Cardiff scored the goal which was enough to settle the contest.

From a PNE point of view, it was avoidable to say the least.

They were on the attack, a ball into the box headed out by Joe Ralls.

Kieffer Moore got it well inside his own half, first turning Patrick Bauer who lunged in and then Andrew Hughes who went to ground with a tackle.

That left Cardiff four versus two in bodies, Ben Davies and Ben Pearson the Lilywhites players doing the back-pedalling.

Moore carried the ball up the middle of the pitch and played in Ojo who was overlapping to his right.

Ojo still had lots of work to do but helped my Moore’s decoy run, was able to take the ball into the box and hammer a finish over Declan Rudd into the roof of the net.

Alex Neil response was to gradual shuffle the pack, with Tom Barkhuizen coming on to replace Brad Potts.

Then Emil Riis arrived for his home debut in place of Sean Maguire, the final sub seeing Jayden Stockley on for Ryan Ledson.

So in the final stages were playing a good old fashioned 4-4-2, with Riis and Stockley leading the line.

On a day when North End needed some creativity, you had to wonder why Daniel Johnson was left sat on the bench, Paul Gallagher too.

Barkhuizen didn’t make the impact desired, not really getting into the game.

I thought Riis ran the channels well and helped to work the Cardiff back four more than before.

Stockley was to have PNE’s best chance for an equaliser in the 88th minute.

Having already sent a stooping header wide, he got on the end of Davies’ cross from the left.

But six yards out he could only send a header into the gloves of Alex Smithies.

Had he guided it back across the goalkeeper, it would have been 1-1.

Frustration all round then and a result we’ve seen plenty of times immediately after an international break.

No one particularly shone, no one able to do something that bit different in order to find a way through.

Morrison’s display was rightly lauded, with him winning Sky’s man of the match award.

But North End weren’t able to stretch him, it being a tough job for Sean Maguire to try and win high balls against a far more physical opponent.

Maguire gets his fair share of pelters when he doesn’t affect a game, but pumping the ball up for him was not playing to his strengths.

All eyes now turn to the trip to the capital on Wednesday, then to West Yorkshire three days later.