What Paul Heckingbottom said on Preston North End relegation fears after Plymouth Argyle disaster
PNE are 20th in the Championship table heading into the final day at Bristol City
Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom admitted his side were not good enough in both boxes against Plymouth Argyle.
The Lilywhites lost 2-1 to the Pilgrims, who were all-but relegated despite victory at Deepdale. Mustapha Bundu opened the scoring on 14 minutes and Callum Wright doubled their lead with a quarter-of-an-hour to play. Emil Riis pulled a late goal back for PNE but it was not enough to spark a comeback. North End will now play for Championship survival on the final day at Bristol City.
“I think it's easy to sum up, it's a tale of both boxes,” said Heckingbottom, on the match. “We were wasteful in their box and they were clinical in ours. Everything else in between is propaganda really, when you're looking for results. Even though we controlled that bit in between, the game is always determined by what happens in both boxes. We've had too many games, especially at home, where we've been the dominant team but come away with a point when it should have been three.
“Today we've come away with nothing. We've had other things against us which we know about but today is on us, with both boxes. We knew what the game would be like. The fact they scored early with their first shot is so frustrating because it tees them up perfectly to play how they want to play. They sink that little bit lower and give us no space in behind. We were prepared for that and knew it would be a game about crosses and set plays. That's how we created the chances.”
North End have won one of their last 14 league games, with two points from the last seven collected. The dismal run of form has seen them drop firmly into the relegation picture, as Preston sit 20th going into the last round of fixtures. Heckingbottom has stressed in recent weeks that PNE should never have assumed they were in the clear; now it’s about meeting the challenge at Ashton Gate head on.
“Yeah, of course it (feels bizarre) but I think anyone who's been around me knows that I've been banging on about this all the time, because the margins are so fine in this league,” said Heckingbottom. “At any moment things can switch and go against you, whether it's the refereeing decisions we've suffered this season, the injuries and all of a sudden you can get dragged into things that people weren't expecting. That's why I was banging on about it all the time prior to the international break and then coming back and playing Villa.
“Anyone who's been around this league for a long time knows that the margins are so fine and at the moment you rest on your laurels, you can be dragged into things and then when you are, it's a different feeling. You can see, performance wise, we've had too many of those today. The league table never lies. So today, I've said it's wasteful. If we'd have taken care of business ourselves today, or that Cardiff game when it was all on us... we should have been out of sight.
“We've had too many times like that where we've not been able to capitalise on how we've played, take the chances and put teams to bed. We've not been able to do it. We have to get our heads up, stick our chests out... there's no pointing fingers and blaming. Everyone's responsible, everyone's in it together and everyone's got to play their part in making sure we get the result we want next week. That's it. Dwelling on things, focusing on things, that's gone now. What's the point? We can't.”
“I’ll be pulling my hair out.”
Preston’s best chances against Plymouth came from crosses into the box and set-pieces; the Pilgrims dropped into a low block after taking the lead. With Mads Frokjaer, Sam Greenwood and Will Keane unavailable, Duane Holmes having left the club, and attacking summer recruits Josh Bowler and Jeppe Okkels not around, the lack of spark was telling. Robbie Brady, for large parts of the game, looked like the only player capable of creating something.
“Yeah, that's been something I've seen,” said Heckingbottom. “You look at how do you create chances? Today we created them. If you're on about 1v1 players, they're not on the pitch, so how do you create? Be good against the ball, set plays need to be good and make sure we have the ball in the box, at the right time, and the bodies... we did it. You've always got to find a way to create. I know when I'm watching the chances back and watching the game back, I'll be pulling my hair out at some of the ones we missed.”
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