Don Goodman gives his view on why Preston North End are struggling in the Championship
Preston North End are bottom of the Championship table.
Don Goodman believes it's mentality rather than the formation that is costing Preston North End.
It's been an extremely tough start to the season for Preston, who sit rock bottom of the Championship table after 11 games with just four points on the board.
Things have yet to get better under new boss Graham Alexander, with the North End icon losing his first three games in charge and insisting he does not have 'magic dust' to instantly make drastic improvements.
So far, Alexander has opted to stick with the back-three formation that was utilised by predecessor Paul Heckingbottom.
While there have been calls for the system to change, Don Goodman does not believe the way the players are lining up is the issue, but rather their complete lack of confidence.
The EFL pundit told The Post, via Betway: "Well, a back three or a back five, whatever way you want to look at it, that was something that Paul Heckingbottom utilised quite regularly.
"So, the players are used to that system, there's no doubt about it. I don't personally think the system is the problem.
"Maybe the balance isn't right between defending and attacking.
"They're too easy to play against and they're too easy to score against. I'm not sure any change of system would change that really."
‘They need an injection of confidence”
Instead of the formation, Goodman pointed towards the 'mentality' of the squad as a key factor in their results.
Preston have lost a number of points late on in games this season, while the last two away defeats at Birmingham and Wrexham have seen them twice concede four goals and twice concede two within minutes of one another.
"I think it's the mentality," Goodman added.
"They need a win from somewhere and they need an injection of confidence to give themselves a positive boost and some kind of chance to breach that gap that has appeared between them and safety.
"It's already at five points to get out of the relegation zone, which at this stage feels like quite a big gap with the way Preston are playing."