Preston North End vs Tottenham Hotspur verdict - PNE shouldn't be afraid of throwing a few punches at the big boys

In the end it was a professional performance from Spurs who avoided an upset and a giant-killing, seeing themselves pretty comfortably into the fifth round at North End’s expense.

Heung-Min Son was the man of the moment, netting only his fifth and sixth goals of the season but doing so in some fashion. His opener was a stunner – a finer goal at Deepdale you may do well to see this season. His second showed the danger of allowing a top player to even be that close to your goal, a little shimmy earning him half a yard before again dispatching on his so-called weaker foot.

Spurs’ third was a good finish as Arnaut Danjuma marked his Tottenham debut with a goal, but one that North End may beat themselves up for a little. Still, even in that moment, just a couple of minutes from the end and converting from beyond the penalty spot, there was an element of class in the finish from the Villareal loanee who guided the ball right into the corner of the net. It’s a small detail but it’s thanks to those, and the consistency in which they are delivered, that the Tottenham players are playing at the highest level.

There is no shame in being able to appreciate that North End were beaten by a good team, indeed Tottenham’s soon to be record goal scorer, and England’s soon to be record goal scorer, was left amongst the substitutes throughout.

I’m not saying I would have clapped Son off the pitch nor ran onto it for a selfie, but they are good.

The away side were in control for the vast majority of the game, they kept PNE at lease at an arm’s length and picked their moments to unleash their quality to take the game away from them.

Can you legislate for a top class player sticking one in the bottom corner from 25 yards to open the scoring? Possibly not, but when you’re Tottenham and you have half a dozen players that have already done that in the past, they will fancy their chances to do so at some point when given space.

Without harping on too much about how good Spurs were, it’s common when Premier League clubs come to Deepdale that you can see the gulf that is the top flight and the second tier, coming away from Deepdale it was hard not to feel like the Lilywhites – the original ones, that is – could have done more.

PNE failed to really register a shot on target throughout the 90 minutes, Jordan Storey poking the ball in the general direction of Fraser Forster the only thing that could potentially have gone down as one.

Ryan Lowe opted for a different approach to what we have seen against the big boys in recent years, he chose to contain and try and stay in the game rather than take the game to them and try to disrupt.

Under Alex Neil and Frankie McAvoy PNE went with a high press, looked to get on the front foot and make some chances. In their last big cup clash against Liverpool, under McAvoy, they arguably could have won had they taken their chances on the night. In the end they were knocked out but at least there was a sense of what if and reasons to get excited.

Unfortunately at Deepdale on Saturday there were no such occasions. Instead 21,000 plus fans were heading home wondering, what if we’d have had a shot? The bumper crowd was not used to their advantage to sew chaos amongst the Spurs ranks, instead PNE took the sting out of the game which was perfect for the visitors. The pressure was exclusively on Tottenham, and what better way to be able to handle it than being allowed the ball, the opposition slowing things down and the atmosphere being largely taken out of the equation.

There was a sign just seconds into the game that North End’s approach was different this time. They quickly closed down Tottenham and won a throw in just inside the opposition’s half, Ryan Ledson was free for a quick throw to get the game underway again whilst the visitors regrouped. Instead, Robbie Brady was told to slow things down and Andrew Hughes walked forward to take the throw.

It’s a minor moment but it sums up North End’s approach. In the past they had the handbrake off. They went after Goliath and threw a few punches. And as much as Lowe likes to jump into the ring, it seemed his side were content with keeping their guard up the whole time to see if they could sneak one or two moments to land a jab. Son’s haymaker after 50 minutes had them on the ropes, and realistically his second after 69 minutes had them out for the count.

It isn’t to say that there were not positives to take from the game, Ched Evans, as he has been of late, was like a man possessed up top. He battered the Tottenham defence but has the confidence to show his technical qualities too, as a cheeky nutmeg to speed things up after slowing them down in the first half would indicate.

It can be easy for Alan Browne to come in for criticism and although his crossing wasn’t the best, he had a good game, particularly in the first half in helping drive his side forward. Ryan Ledson played an important role too in breaking up what Tottenham tried to do.

But when the dust settles, it’s another defeat at Deepdale for PNE and another one where they have barely given fans reason to get off their seats – that is the concern. As mentioned previously, if North End are at least really going for it and it doesn’t pan out you can say at least they gave us something to get excited about.

I’m not sure keeping Tottenham to 0-0 after 45 minutes a home is the grandest of achievements, and it doesn’t sound too good either. But it’s gone, there are two ways to approach the big cup games and neither way has worked for PNE, so Lowe is not wrong in trying something different.

But after another toothless display at home, attentions will turn to Bristol City with an even greater focus on entertainment.