Preston North End boss Alex Neil admits he will have to do some creative thinking

Alex Neil says he will have to find his creative side when selecting the Preston team to face Watford tomorrow.
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Injuries and suspensions have hit the Lilywhites squad, with the full-back positions particularly affected.

However, the shortage of options will not dent Neil’s confidence for North End’s first visit to Vicarage Road for more than nine years.

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The PNE manager takes heart from the strong away record which has seen his side win at Brentford, Queens Park Rangers, Huddersfield and Reading.

North End boss Alex NeilNorth End boss Alex Neil
North End boss Alex Neil

Neil will be anxious that Preston put the dreadful derby defeat to Blackburn behind them quickly.

Two of the absences for tomorrow’s game came from the Rovers game, Joe Rafferty and Alan Browne suspended.

Both serve one-game bans, Rafferty for his red card and Browne for totting up five cautions.

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Neil said: “I will have to be creative, that is the best word to describe it.

“If Watford pick out our team, then good luck to them.

“When you haven’t got everyone available to pick from, that makes it difficult.

“You have to strip it back, simplify it and get back to basics.

“How we are doing has been over-analysed to a certain extent because our home form has been so poor.

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“But we have one of the best away records in the country, never mind in our own league.

“If you want to hypercritical of our home form which hasn’t been good enough – I’m not trying to defend that – we have to look at the away form and be pleased with what we have offered up so far.

“We now have a couple of away matches which we will do our best under difficult circumstances to get as many points from as we can.”

Neil will hope that training yesterday and this morning might have brought a couple of players back into the fold.

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Something he lamented after the Blackburn game was an imbalance in defence in terms of playing out from the back, with a shortage of left-footed players.

If that is the case again, Neil says it is his task to find a way around it.

“We were without the same sort of players at Reading and went there and won 3-0 a few weeks ago,” said Neil.

“We couldn’t build from the back that night, what we did was look to keep the ball alive at the top end better.

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“We worked hard when the ball dropped down, we showed better composure on the ball, made passes in better areas rather than risk the ball at the back.

“There is more than one way to skin a cat, we just need to make sure we take better care and be the best we can.

“This game will be a good challenge for us.”

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