Graham Alexander saw the blueprint of how Preston North End should attack in Wrexham loss

It's difficult to put any positive spin on performances after conceding four goals in successive away games and Graham Alexander is by no means taking away from how bad those results were. However, at Wrexham, he did see 'encouraging signs' of progress being gradually made at Preston North End.

It counted for little in the end after a second-half capitulation saw them lose 4-1, but Preston were briefly level at Wrexham after scoring their first goal under the new manager.

Alexander does believe Preston were more competitive in Wales than in Birmingham earlier in the week, with an increased number of shots and xG supportive evidence, but let themselves down with a lack of cutting edge in up front and defensive mistakes at the back.

North End did look more dangerous with the returning Johnny Kenny leading the line, though.

It was the Irishman winning the ball high up the pitch and his subsequent shot that deflected into the path of Alfie Devine that created the equaliser.

Alexander was especially pleased with the number of bodies his team got forward for the goal, with five players in the box in support of Kenny the moment the ball hit the back of the net.

Winning back possession with aggressive pressing and attacking quickly in the transition is the exact blueprint of how Alexander wants his teams to attack. It just needs to happen more often.

"If you look at the amount of bodies we had in the box at that particular time, that was the encouraging sign that we were making those forward, aggressive runs,” he told The Post ahead of Saturday's game at West Brom.

"Opposition recoveries, turn the ball over, that's what a lot of the attacking moments came from. Turning the ball over in that mid-third and attacking at pace.

"This is the improvement we're to make, building more pressure on the opponent. I was delighted with that."

Fitness is crucial to how Alexander wants to play

Alexander stressed the importance of his players being fit enough to be able to make those runs into the box for 90 minutes, with so many players rarely getting forward during the rest of the match at Wrexham.

He added: "Johnny's going to take shots as often as possible, but you need people making those aggressive runs, having the fitness levels to make those time and time again.

"Anyone who's scored those types of goals over a significant period in their career is probably making 10, 15 of those runs a game.

"That's where we have to get our players to be able to do that, because it is a numbers game, and you can't just expect one effort and one goal.

"You have to make loads of efforts, of runs, of shots, of crosses, box entries. All those sorts of things and then we need to be connected to the team so when it pops back out we can keep the second phase going, keep the pressure on the opponent.

"That's how that goal came about. I thought it was certainly a deserved goal, without a shadow of a doubt."

Alexander has moved to make changes to his coaching staff this week, with fitness coach Andy Liddell and first-team coach Peter Murphy leaving the club.

Alexander wants improvements against Wrexham to continue

Alexander was asked in his press conference about the data and stats he'd seen from his first three games in charge, describing it as a 'mixed bag' of negatives and positives.

However, while stressing he was not 'putting a shine' on the result, he did point towards improvements at Wrexham from the defeat at Birmingham in terms of the chances created and how they imposed themselves on the opponent at points.

The boss believes he saw the possible pattern of how his side will play, but they must get better in the crucial moments at both ends of the pitch.

"After the Birmingham game we talked about the competitive level about putting pressure on the opponent. We did that on Saturday.

"I'm talking about, and please don't misconstrue this as me putting a shine on things, but we had more box entries than Wrexham. Our xG was higher than our average this season and all those sort of things.

"So there's slight bits of progress. It's not enough to win that game and there's obviously a frailty in our defending in the box, but also there was opportunities for us to score.

"Before they scored, right in the first couple of minutes, we had a couple of opportunities. Just before they got the third goal, we had a great opportunity, so there was moments in that game where it could have gone our way.”

He continued: “But ultimately it didn't, so can we make the improvements to make these games go our way in both boxes?

"Tuesday's game against Birmingham was a game that we didn't do enough to win, all over the pitch. I felt when I looked at it.

"But the game against Wrexham, we did, in between. It was just about being clinical in both boxes.

"So if that continues, and we've got a pattern, at least we can work on that pattern."

Saturday's home game against fifth-place West Brom is the next chance to see if those improvements can continue.