FOUR talking points from Preston North End's defeat at Rotherham United

Preston North End went into the international break off the back of a defeat as they lost 2-1 to Rotherham on Saturday.
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Alex Neil’s men went into the game as favourites on the back of four successive away wins but second-half goals from Richard Wood and Matt Crooks meant that Ryan Ledson’s first goal for the Lilywhites mattered not.

TOM SANDELLS looks at four talking points from the game at the New York Stadium.

1. A bad day at the office.

Preston North End’s Tom Barkhuizen goes close with a shot at the New York StadiumPreston North End’s Tom Barkhuizen goes close with a shot at the New York Stadium
Preston North End’s Tom Barkhuizen goes close with a shot at the New York Stadium
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It goes without saying that it was a bad day at the office for PNE at the weekend.

There were very few good performers on the day, Alex Neil said as much post match, and it looked like a completely different side that deservedly ran out 3-0 winners over league leaders Reading.

These things can happen.

Had North End’s form not been so black and white, winning away and nothing at home, would the same questions be asked after a poor day?

In the Championship, teams predicted to finish near the bottom will beat those near the top. That’s not a shock, that is just the way things are in the second tier.

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The home form absolutely needs addressing, as does the quality of performance at Rotherham, but these things can happen in the Championship and composure is needed.

2. Home form even more important.

Until now, PNE had kept themselves in a respectable league position and it didn’t feel like they were far from their next win.

Now their hot streak on the road is over, problems arise. It’s not possible to predict anything but if points dry up on the road, there really isn’t much to shout about for this season.

Back-to-back home games follow the international break and the focus will be on rebuilding fortress Deepdale of 2019 fame.

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But if the attention on that record was bad before, it’ll be even worse once the impressive away record begins to falter now.

3. Play your own game.

It was an exciting and pleasing swashbuckling performance at the Madejski last week, it was followed by a drab and erratic display in South Yorkshire.

It was scrappy and aimless at times, played at the pace the hosts wanted it to be and PNE never really strung two passes together. Individual errors and losing the ball is nothing to do with the way the game was placed, but it exasperated the issue.

Whenever the visitors did try to place football, they lost it soon enough. Chances were few and far between and it could have been a different story had Daniel Johnson found the net when through one on one.

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All in all, though, North End were outplayed on the day and it’s rare that Neil’s men come out second best in almost all departments.

4. It’s their own fault.

This isn’t a bad PNE side, just a bad game, but they can take steps during bad games to arrest the slide. Too many times players were taking wrong options, rushing or just making silly errors that show a lack of concentration.

It’s true that with an unchanged squad fatigue may have kicked in against a side that were ready to fight for everything, but there was only really Ryan Ledson and Paul Gallagher that looked to play the right pass.

Both of the Millers’ goals were preventable, which could be a positive that tightening up will bring better performances, but the sting could have been taken out of the game on multiple occasions. PNE are comfortable in possession and if tiredness was creeping in, it would also have allowed for a rest.

It seemed that everything had to be played at 100mph.

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