John Smith’s Preston North End Fans’ Panel verdict: Hard to get enthusiastic about these soulless glorified bounce games masquerading as The Championship

They were not the only thing at Deepdale which did not click into action as on the pitch we failed to register a goal for the third successive home game.

After a fairly bright start we were severely handicapped by the sending off of Tom Barkhuizen midway through the first half.

It was harsh to say the least as he appeared to slip going flat out for a the type of 50/50 ball which as a fan you like to see your own players go for.

With Stoke not having scored a league goal so far this season and after the very creditable draw at Norwich, before the game you would have expected North End to have taken at least a point from this fixture.

However it was a case of fine margins with the sending off changing the dynamics of the game, and once Stoke had taken the lead it left a huge mountain to climb.

It might have possibly been a different game had fans been present and the normally vociferous away contingent would have made the atmosphere more like a derby match.

However we are going to have to get used to playing in these conditions sooner rather than later if we are to avoid this season being one of struggle.

As a fan there is a hugely reduced interest in watching these soulless glorified bounce games masquerading as The Championship. To me it is the equivalent of going to the cinema and watching the new James Bond film with no sound on.

In the grand scheme of things we will be grateful to come out of the other side of this pandemic with a team to follow and hopefully the way our club has been managed over the last few years in being debt free might one day give us an advantage over some of the big-spending clubs in this league and help us to finally achieve the Premier League dream but I am afraid to say that seems a million miles away this weekend.