Preston fan John Smith: A welcome win but four-figure attendance is a concern

After securing his first league win as a permanent manager, Frankie McAvoy might also have managed a weekend without having to reach in the top cupboard for the pain killers when he returned home after a satisfactory day’s work at the office.

Before the game we were rooted at the foot of the table after somehow losing in midweek against a poor Huddersfield side who did not manage a shot on target throughout the whole 90 minutes a result which helped add to the growing unrest on multiple fronts of some fans.

However, we began the game with purpose and it was like the team had journeyed down to Uri Geller’s home in Somerset and all sat on his crystal throne and gained some positive energy.

We were helped by the return of Patrick Bauer who turned in a man-of-the-match performance and gave us some much-needed leadership in the middle of the back three.

The BFG showed his usefulness at the other end of the pitch when he headed us into the lead inside the first quarter of an hour.The first half was probably the best half of football that we have played this season and we really should have been out of sight and three goals up before the interval.

That Peterborough were still in the game right up to the death is a result of our failure to convert a number of the clear cut chances we created in both halves .One statistic which must surely worry the club’s administrators is that of the crowd which dipped under the 10,000 mark in what was our lowest league gate since 2016.

Having lost almost 1,500 home fans in the two weeks since the crushing opening day defeat by Hull.

While Saturday’s important win did a bit to brighten up the mood of the die hard fans, I’m afraid to say that it will take more than the signing of free transfer players to win back some of the missing ones.

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