FOUR things we learned from Preston North End’s defeat to Stoke City

Lee Gregory’s goal gave Stoke City all three points against Preston North End, after the Lilywhites were controversially reduced to 10 men.

TOM SANDELLS looks at four talking points from the Championship clash.

1. Up against it.

It’s been said a lot in the aftermath of the game that it was 10 against 12 at Deepdale, referee Matthew Donohue not doing much to win over the Preston faithful in his first Championship game.

The man with the whistle sent off Tom Barkhuizen after 22 minutes for a slide tackle on Morgan Fox.

On the surface it looked like a 50-50 that both players went for.

The referee reached for his back pocket and sent Barkhuizen for an early bath.

Replays also showed that the winger slipped in his approach and barely made any contact with the defender.

The referee doesn’t have the benefit of replays, but what he did have was an assistant right on top of the incident and a fourth official on that side too.

The officials got it wrong and gave PNE a long 70 minutes to go through with a disadvantage.

Other decisions throughout also baffled.

2. Two up top.

North End started the game in a 3-5-2 system with Jayden Stockley and Sean Maguire leading the line.

The attacking approach also involved Scott Sinclair and Barkhuizen operating as wing-backs.

The two strikers linked well throughout and had good support prior to the red card.

It was a good showing of what two up top could provide for Alex Neil’s 
side.

Up until the red card the formation caused plenty of problems for Stoke and it looked like a matter of time before Preston found their way through.

3. Fans’ absence still playing a part.

On the day where several fan test events were cancelled, an empty Deepdale once again 
showed how PNE miss their fans.

It was said post-lockdown that Neil’s men thrive off the atmosphere as they employ their high-pressing game.

Though that seems to have corrected itself to an extent, it will always leave people wondering ‘what if?’

It is of course the same for all teams but it does impact on the Lilywhites.

With the controversial decision over Barkhuizen’s red card, would that happen with home fans around?

Neil mentioned the moans of Fox and the City bench – would they have been drowned out?

Again, it is ‘what ifs?’ but it is certainly playing its part.

4. North End need that winning feeling back.

Although the Carbao Cup went all right, league wins have been hard to come by in recent months.

It’s been well documented the PNE were poor after the enforced break but their troubles began before Covid-19 paused last season.

In their last 15 games Championship games there have been only two wins for Preston, a run of three straight defeats taking them into the postponement in March.

There will be plenty 
said of the transfer window but winning breeds confidence and so do 
points, Neil’s men need to start getting back into the rhythm of winning games again soon.