Dave Seddon's verdict: Preston North End 0 Stoke 1 - Red card adds to concerns at home for PNE

Preston North End’s calendar year at Deepdale isn’t doing anything to lift spirits, Stoke being the seventh team to leave with three points since January.

Throw in an FA Cup exit to Norwich at the turn of the year and one from the Carabao Cup at Brighton’s hands last week, and home comforts have been thin on the ground.

Of the 12 Championship games played at PR1 in 2020, 10 last season and two in the early weeks of the present one, North End have won three, drawn two and lost seven.

Eleven points gathered compared to the 17 taken on the road in the same period.

There was mitigation to some degree for Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to the Potters.

That came in the shape of having to play 68 minutes plus stoppage-time with 10 men after a red card for Tom Barkhuizen.

What at first glance at full speed might have looked like Barkhuizen lunging in on Morgan Fox, wasn’t quite so sinister when replays were studied.

Referee Matt Donohue had to rely on one look unlike his Premier League colleagues who have the benefit of VAR for similar incidents.

He pulled out a straight red card, deeming Barkhuizen’s tackle dangerous or at the least reckless.

Replays from a couple of angles begged to differ, those showing that Barkhuizen slipped and the momentum from doing so carried him into Fox – the contact knee to knee rather than studs.

I would guess PNE have a reasonable chance of winning an appeal to the FA against the sending-off and saving the winger from a three-match suspension.

It doesn’t bring back what was missing for such a large chunk of this game though, Barkhuizen having to spend the rest of the afternoon in the dressing room and stand.

Up until his dismissal, the Lilywhites had complete control of the contest.

They had won a succession of corners and free-kicks, looking the more likely of the two teams to make the breakthrough.

Although Barkhuizen’s red didn’t take the wind out of their sails right away, it gradually made their task a much tougher one.

Stoke scored six minutes before half-time and were to hold on to that lead quite comfortably, certainly if you used chances created as a guide.

With 10 men North End ran into a white and red striped block of visiting midfielders and defenders.

Only during a late spell of pressure did the hosts threaten an equaliser.

Had one arrived, you would argue it was a deserved one, based on the opening spell and the injustice surrounding Barkhuizen.

Alas it stayed 1-0, Stoke hitting the M6 with three points and leaving PNE to dwell on their misfortune.

They put in the hard yards trying to find parity but that wasn’t enough on its own.

In a similar way to the second half against Brighton, they couldn’t get their strikers into the game.

This was not about glaring misses, North End didn’t get near the box enough for that to happen.

Stoke made their extra man count, moved the ball wide to make the pitch big when on the attack.

It is what North End had done to Derby the other week when the Rams went down to 10 men. When PNE did get on the attack on Saturday, Stoke’s back three stayed solid and won most of their battles.

The 6ft 6in Harry Souttar, making his first league start for the Potters after 18 months on loan on the Lancashire coast at Fleetwood, was a towering figure at the heart of the defence.

Stoke’s 3-4-1-2 system was one PNE manager Alex Neil had decided to match, a call which was working well.

It is a system which I think quite suits North End, even though Neil has in the main favoured 4-2-3-1.

Using a trio at the back with wing-backs allows the use of three midfielder and two strikers.

The wing-backs on this occasion were Barkhuizen and Scott Sinclair, giving the side an attacking look.

Losing Barkhuizen from the right-hand side meant Alan Browne had to be taken out of an advanced midfield role to fill the gap.

Later in the second half Neil switched to a 4-3-2 to help chase an equaliser.

So what about the red card and what actually happened?

It happened along the touchline near the Stoke dug out on the Invincibles Pavilion side of the ground.

Under pressure from Barkhuizen, James McClean played a pass back towards Fox who had come across to cover that channel.

Barkhuizen set off after the ball and as he neared Fox, lost his footing. He meant he slid into the defender who let out a loud cry.

The assistant on that side flagged for a foul and Mr Donohue produced red as he arrived on the scene.

It would be fair comment to say the referee was rather whistle happy, with an element of inconsistency to his decision-making.

An early foul from Mikel which was worthy of a yellow card saw Mr Donohue issue only a quiet word to the former Chelsea man. There was a challenge on Declan Rudd by Gregory which many thought warranted a booking.

Gregory got the game’s only goal in the 39th minute, Tashan Oakley-Boothe and Steven Fletcher linking-up around the edge of the box to find Obi Mikel.

The midfielder rolled a low ball over towards the far post for Gregory to dart in and steer a shot past Rudd.

In the second half, Rudd was busier than he had been in the first, twice making good saves to deny Sam Clucas.

Stoke should have doubled their lead with 15 minutes left though, Ryan Ledson losing possession on the edge of the box after being played into a tight spot by Andrew Hughes.

The ball broke to Fletcher who decided to lift the ball over Rudd with a ‘Rabona’, only to see it hit the bar.

A more orthodox attempt would have seen him score.

A late PNE rally saw Stoke keeper Adam Davies in action to save at Brad Potts' feet and dive to gather a Stockley header.