Tim Mercer’s Preston North End Fans’ Panel verdict: A decent win against Cardiff is very much needed

To be honest it ended in disappointment for all us fans watching on our new web iFollow accounts, as a comfortable North End allowed a simple lapse in concentration to allow Luton back in with a late equaliser.

By then three points should have been in the bag and on their way home on the two team buses back up to Preston.

Luton had the look of a side in the lower reaches, fighting for survival, and apart from an intensive opening five minutes (temporarily listened to on a local radio station when a breakdown in the EFL-iFollow coverage prevented fans like myself being able to log on) they offered very little in a quite lacklustre display.

Preston dominated both halves and could easily have been 1-0 to the good by the end of the first 45 minutes, with chances falling to Sean Maguire and Paul Gallagher that, although not easy, on another day would have hit the back of the net.

The second half built on Preston’s dominance and it was no real surprise when a superb goal was clipped home from the corner of the six-yard area by Scott Sinclair.

The visitors should then have gone on and secured a second but instead, a late break forward by the hosts, a lucky (for them) rebound off Tom Barkhuizen covering in midfield, and a well-struck shot from Luton, gave them a share of the spoils.

As for the player performances, Ben Pearson stood out as usual, Daniel Johnson was good in patches and Andrew Hughes provided some dangerous crosses from the left wing when on the overlap, especially in the first half.

League game number 4,999 comes up next Saturday at home to Cardiff…a decent win would ensure all is set for that historic next game a few days later against fellow Football League founders Derby County.