John Smith's PNE Fans' Panel verdict: We look desperate for the season to end

Prior to kick-off before our game with Stoke on Saturday I was confident that we would not turn in another lethargic display, as we still had a little more work to do to preserve our Championship status before signing off for the holiday period.

However my pre-match thoughts proved to be way off the mark as watching this one felt like we had now actually arrived on the beach and were trudging along it with our toes in the sand, trying to find a nice flat spot in the sun to pitch up our beach umbrellas and chairs.

After taking an early lead with a scruffy goal on our first foray into our opponents’ penalty area we failed to press home this advantage and stamp our authority on the game.

Although I thought we were marginally the best team in the half, I felt we were a bit fortunate to go into the interval a goal up.

In the second half we looked weary and fatigued, with relegation-threatened Stoke looking the more eager of the two sides going forward.

Urged on by their raucos away following they were the better side from half-time onwards until the last 10 minutes. Their fans were far more vocal than our own, whose lethargy in the spring sun mirrored the performance of their team on the pitch.

It was no surprise to me that Stoke eventually managed to find an equaliser, although the manner in which it came was disappointing. It certainly looked a soft penalty from my vantage point directly across from where the decision was given.

Maybe the referee was swayed a little by the noisiest fans of the two sets.

The result meant that we now seem to have had as many draws this season as John Wayne did in his old Western films.

Although it was a workmanlike display I thought we definitely could have done with some Rooster Cogburn-style ‘True Grit’ especially in the game’s last 10 minutes when Stoke seemed to be content with the point and sat back a bit.

Our problem was that, although we managed to get the ball into our opponents’ penalty area, our attempts were – in the main – powder-puff ones which did not trouble their keeper.

One positive from Saturday was my man of the match Kaine Kesler-Hayden scoring his first North End goal, which he followed by treating us to some somersaulting goal celebrations which would not have looked out of place had he been competing for the Team GB gymnastics team.

In my opinion the Villa loanee is now making a case for being a strong candidate for this season’s Player of The Year award.

However, in general the game was for me largely an uninspiring one .After watching us record just one single win in our last nine league games I personally cannot wait for this season to finish.

Hopefully we will have the reset this summer I feel we desperately need in order to start off again next August with a fresher impetus for both the team and our fans.