Emil Riis has a big part to play for Preston, says fan John Smith

Although Emil Riis’ time at Deepdale will not be as long as Ken Barlow’s on the cobbles, the news that he is now under contract until 2025 has been greeted with much joy as he is quickly achieving cult hero status and also like the 89-year-old Street lothario is adored by his fans.

He is fast becoming a huge part of the Preston North End soap opera and looks set to feature in some more leading storylines after taking top billing in Saturday’s match when scoring both goals in our important victory over Luton at Deepdale.

The game had become a scrappy stop-start affair until Riis unleashed a piledriver from the right hand side of the penalty area which arrowed its way into the roof of the left hand side of the net.

The goal alone was worth the admission money and when the Danish striker converted a penalty in first half stoppage time to double our advantage, we were well on the way to a second successive home league win.

Apart from a superb Tom Barkhuizen clearance, Luton – who were on a five match unbeaten run – never really threatened until near the end of the game when Daniel Iversen made a stunning world class save after being left wrong footed by a wickedly deflected shot.

It was a much improved performance as the manager finally decided to change his formation opting for a 3-4-1-2 line up which seemed to help us move the ball further up the pitch than we had in some previous home matches.

As well as matchwinner Riis several other players stood out in a solid team display including Ali McCann ,Alan Browne and Tom Barkhuizen.

The win was so easy it made me wonder if we are really as bad as I have been thinking of late as Luton who were in a play off spot before the game looked much poorer than us.

The result also left me experiencing sweeter dreams in the land of nod than the nightmare one I had the previous Saturday after playing against another side in tangerine.

Oh what would I give if the two results by some form of magic could somehow be reversed!

Support us and become a subscriber today. Enjoy unlimited access to local news, the latest football stories and new puzzles every day. With a digital subscription, you can see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click here to subscribe.