It's a tough ask now to reach play-offs, says Preston fan John Roper

An ultimately frustrating 1-1 draw for North End who can count themselves a little unlucky not to take all three points from a tense but open affair against Nottingham Forest at Deepdale.
Scott Sinclair on the ball for North EndScott Sinclair on the ball for North End
Scott Sinclair on the ball for North End

After making the worst possible start North End fought their way back into the game via a Jayden Stockley effort but despite having two goal bound shots blocked in the second half North End just could not get that second goal which would have surely meant all three points and a place in the top six.

Our cause was not helped by the fact that we lost Ben Davies and Ben Pearson to injuries before the start of the second half but I have to say that I thought the two lads who replaced them, Jordan Storey and Ryan Ledson, were excellent replacements and we lost nothing in losing, arguably our best two players to injuries in the first half of the contest.

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Alex Neil made four changes to the side that claimed all three points at Hillsborough with Potts, Stockley, Johnson and Sinclair coming into the team at the expense of Barkhuizen, Storey, Browne and Ledson.

The game started at a decent pace but North End found themselves a goal down with only four minutes on the clock. Ben Pearson conceding a totally unnecessary penalty and Lewis Grabban making no mistake from the spot giving the visitors the lead.

North End dusted themselves down and quickly got back into the game albeit with some route one play aiming for the head of Jayden Stockley.

Ten minutes after going a goal down North End were level with a well-worked goal knocked in from close range by Stockley after a great ball from the right hand side by Potts. The game was decent but seemed to slow down a little after the drinks break, which seemed to break up the flow of the game.

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A couple of minutes before the break we were dealt a big blow when Ben Davies had to leave the field with a pulled muscle being replaced by Jordan Storey. Another enforced substitution at half-time with Ben Pearson having to go off after getting a knock late in the first half when he crashed into Sean Maguire as they both went for the same ball.

The second half started a little slower than the first half but it was North End who upped their game and seemed to be in the ascendancy. Having said that Forest have some very good players and always looked dangerous on the break without actually creating too many goal scoring opportunities.

Brad Potts had a shot blocked that was surely going into the net and near the End Tom Barkhuizen had a similar effort blocked as North End desperately went for the winner. Gallagher and Harrop were brought on late in the proceedings and Gallagher put Maguire through only for his effort to go out for a corner. It was very open near the end of the game and although we always looked the more likely we just could not manage the winner.

One thing that this game showed, for my money, was that there are plenty of decent players in the squad who can count themselves a little unlucky not to have had more opportunities this season in the first team.

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Young Storey looks a real prospect and Ryan Ledson is slowly improving in every game he plays.

My man of the match was Brad Potts who seems to have finally come to life at Preston and although he went tired towards the end of the game I thought he put a great shift in for North End. We are still not completely out of the play offs but I think we would have to win all three games now as about 70 points looks like it could be enough for sixth place.

Just whether or not we can do it remains to be seen but it’s a tough ask particularly on Wednesday evening against a Brentford side who have won all five games since the re-start.