Preston North End's break in action might be a blessing in disguise says Deepdale skipper

The 4-0 defeat to Luton on Wednesday night was hardly the way PNE wanted to sign-off for the 17-day break between games.

Often teams want to face their next game as quickly as possible to get a loss of that nature out of the system but club skipper Browne takes the view that a bit of distance might be useful.

The North End squad have been given some time off by Ryan Lowe, that planned before the Luton game.

Lilywhites manager Lowe felt the international break – extended a few days by the rescheduling of the Blackpool match – was an ideal opportunity for the players to have a breather ahead of the eight-match run-in to the end of the season.

Browne said: “When you lose a game you want to go again quite quickly.

"But after a game like that it is probably best to have a break away from it.

"There’s absolutely nothing to take away from the Luton game, nothing positive to build on.

"We have to forget about it and come back fresh ready for the games ahead.

"As a team we need to show up well for the games ahead of us, we need to give them a really good go and show what we are about.”

Browne admitted what really stung about the loss at Kenilworth Road was that North End didn’t make Luton work extra hard for the three points.

The game was effectively over by half-time when the Hatters were 3-0 ahead and a fourth goal went in before the hour mark.

"I don’t think they had to do anything special to win the game,” said Browne.

"We gifted everything to them, when you look at the four goals people were probably laughing from the stands at them.

"The fourth goal just summed up the night and the three before were unacceptable. You won’t see a performance from us like that again.

"You can accept losing a game of football but to lose it in that manner wasn’t right. I’m not saying Luton aren’t a bad side, they are right up the league and fair play to them.

"But to lose to them like that was embarrassing.”

PNE offer refund to fans who went to Luton