Chris Sedgwick column as ex-Preston North End man delivers in depth verdict post-Rotherham

This was my second viewing of Preston North End this season, after the victory at Sheffield Wednesday last month. Both have been scrappy affairs in truth, but there were parts of Saturday’s game I enjoyed - certainly the first half, which was a decent spectacle. North End were up against another one of my former clubs in Rotherham United and the hosts did look there for the taking for large parts of the first half. It will have been a game Preston fancied themselves in, but those ones can be hard and Rotherham make life difficult for you.

I thought Ryan Lowe’s men played some good stuff over the first 45 minutes and you felt the first goal was going to be key. Had North End managed to grab it then you saw them winning the game comfortably - Milutin Osmajic went very close to doing so but then Jordan Hugill goes down the other end and puts one in out of nowhere. I am going to be honest, when Hugill went to shoot I was thinking ‘what are you doing?’. There was a lad to his right who he could’ve played through; I couldn’t believe it when it went into the top corner.

It was a brilliant finish and I know he’s done it in the past, but I was thinking - from Preston’s point of view - that you wanted him to shoot there. To his credit he is a handful and a wind up merchant. You could see him at the end trying to have a scrap in the tunnel and you will know you’ve been in a game with him. Liam Lindsay’s header to equalise came at the perfect time for PNE and it was then a case of North End breaking down a deep Rotherham defence.

Preston got themselves into some great positions, several times actually, but getting those crosses right is not as easy as it looks and sometimes you’ve just got to play the numbers game. You need to keep putting the ball into dangerous areas and hoping someone in yellow can get on the end of it. It almost happened for PNE when Brad Potts’ cross was hit on to the post by Rotherham’s defender and on another day that flies in. I thought North End were wasteful a few times though, when they got into those positions. That was frustrating.

I mentioned Osmajic earlier and I was really impressed with him. I thought he was brilliant. He bullied their two centre halves and got hold of the ball. You could see him pulling on to Humphreys, who went off injured. I thought he beat him up in the first half. And, for the big strong lad he is, his first touch is brilliant. The thing I liked the most was that, when he was getting kicked, he didn’t go down and look for free kicks. He fought them off and wanted to keep play going.

I know Preston paid quite a lot of money to sign him and he looks like he’s going to be good. They club have clearly done their homework on him and it is good to see them looking at different markets, to get someone a bit different in the building. Mobile target men are hard to come by nowadays; players like RIchard Cresswell and Chris Brown in my day were big strong targets who could run as well. You don’t see as many of them now... everyone wants to be a number ten, dropping into pockets instead of running in behind.

Robbie Brady was in for his first start of the season and I thought you could tell in the opening exchanges. A few of his passes went astray and he looked a bit rusty, but you then see the ball he puts in for the goal and it is absolute quality. It can be hard, when you are not playing or properly in your rhythm as a player, to then come into a winning team - where everyone is at it and playing well. It can take time and I thought he grew into the match.

I thought it was actually a sensible decision to pick him over Liam Millar, away to Rotherham. Brady is a team player, who works hard and does both sides of the game. Him and Potts got up and down and if Brady doesn’t play then the goal probably doesn’t happen. His left foot is a wand. Wide players can be unpredictable at times and fans sometimes love and loathe them, so I am sure he can split opinion. But, away to Rotherham, was it a good decision to play him? Definitely, for me.

I think Millar gives you a lot going forward and will get fans off their seats. But, for an away performance at a place like that, if I was in the team I would want someone like Brady to work up and down the side and do a job defensively. Millar looked lively when he came on, but there were just a few decisions he made where that bit more experience would’ve helped - knowing when to cross, shoot and stay on his feet. If he stayed on his feet towards the end, he potentially scores the winner.

When the teams came out at two o’clock, North End’s lineup and squad looked a lot different to the one I watched at Hillsborough. PNE’s squad is in good shape. Back in August they were obviously still looking to build it - they had the likes of Noah Mawene and Kian Best in the 18 along with other kids. Now, they’ve brought a bit more experience in and the bench looked strong.

I thought Best was superb in that win over Wednesday, but I think it’s good management of the player to keep him playing matches - even for the youth team. It doesn’t happen enough anymore. Young lads get up with the first team, have a sniff of it and then don’t play games for a few weeks. It does them good to keep playing at that age and how he reacts to it will tell you a lot about him - whether he has gone and played the game or gone and not given it his all.

Overall though, Preston must be delighted with the start they have made to the season. If you’d offered them 20 points after eight games they would’ve snatched your hand off. But, I am sure Lowey will be keeping feet on the ground because it’s a good start, but a start is all it is. Everyone on the staff and in that dressing room has been around it long enough to know that a week is a long time in the Championship.

If you are not at it, or not focused, you can easily lose three games in a week. So, Preston have got to keep their standards high, switched on, keep doing the same things every day and not come away from that. I see a lot of the players talking about the togetherness of the group and it is massive to have everyone pulling in the same direction. I have been in dressing rooms where everyone is going for it and you get success. I’ve been in others, with better technical players and better quality on paper, but it’s not together and you don’t achieve anything. You can go as far as you want when you’ve got togetherness and PNE appear to have that in abundance.