Preston North End's Alan Browne says right-back role didn't work out the way he wanted against Swansea

The midfielder got the nod to play in the full-back role in preference to Joe Rafferty who was on the bench.

Darnell Fisher is still picking up his fitness after a calf injury which saw him miss a lot of pre-season – Fisher had a long running session with the conditioning coach on the pitch before kick-off.

This was not the first time Browne had operated as a right-back, with him playing there a few times last season and in the Carabao Cup win over Mansfield in August.

However, there were some uncomfortable spells for the 25-year-old who wore the skipper’s armband.

Browne said: “Fish was obviously injured for this one, Raff was available but the gaffer went with me.

“Probably that was because Swansea played with five at the back.

“The full-back is normally your out-ball but unfortunately I wasn’t good enough doing that.

“I should have affected the game more than I did – a lot more in fact – but it just didn’t seem to work.”

Neither side posed much of an attacking threat in a game of few clear-cut chances.

Swansea scored with their one shot on target, with PNE registering four on goal. Of those, though, only a shot from Tom Barkhuizen forced keeper Freddie Woodman into a meaningful save.

North End missed Daniel Johnson who sat this one out following a raft of speculation about interest from Rangers in him.

His creativity was missed, with the hosts looking more of a threat only when Sean Maguire and Jayden Stockley came off the bench.

Browne said: “You are always going to miss your top players.

“I think DJ was involved in 19 goals last season with him scoring or providing assists.

“Brad Potts played in his role, he’s a top player but it just didn’t work out.

“When you reflect on the game there wasn’t much in it, I didn’t think the quality was there from either side.

“At the end we put a lot of pressure on without us being clinical or creating clear-cut chances – it was more a case of hopeful balls forwards.”