Verdict - Preston North End finish for the World Cup in the worst possible way but there's plenty to be optimistic about

Zian Flemming proved to be the difference on the day, he netted a hat-trick with Charlie Cresswell bagging a fourth for the Lions after PNE had come from 2-0 down in the first half to go into the break level.

An own goal got North End back into the game, as Billy Mitchell and George Long combined to put the ball into their own net, with Ched Evans heading the Lilywhites back level with his third well-taken goal in two games.

It was a topsy turvy game was unlike PNE from a defensive point of view.

At the back, they were poor. They were pushed and shoved all over the place, often losing their shape and just looking a bit on the ropes.

Millwall’s first and third goals were poor. The opener inside five minutes came from a cross from the right that was brought down in the box by Flemming.

Although young, he is physical and was able to comfortably hold off Brad Potts before rolling him and dispatching the ball into the bottom corner.

But it was all too easy. He had time to bring the ball down and position it as he’d like, Alan Browne’s attempted poke at the ball to take it away was not good enough.

He needed to remain calm and stand the Dutchman up, crowd him out amongst the PNE bodies in the area.

Jordan Storey was sold by a body feint and Potts was brushed aside. 1-0 down inside five minutes.

The third goal, which in reality killed the game off, was just a bad watch entirely.

When the ball is at the touchline there is only one direction that it can go for Millwall to score, yet all three of PNE’s central defenders seemed caught off guard when it was pulled out.

Andrew Hughes slid past the ball before it reached him, Liam Lindsay was caught wrong-footed and Storey desperately dived in on Flemming who left him on the deck and had a good angle to guide it beyond Freddie Woodman in the PNE goal.

That goal came after a period of PNE shooting and missing, which we’ve seen already this season.

To their credit, Millwall did adapt and made changes of their won. Their switch to 3-5-2 was one of the turning points in the game.

They were able to pin back PNE’s marauding wing backs, up until that point, and get themselves some territory, to which Preston had little answer.

Once again North End were the masters of their own downfall and that is one of the most frustrating things.

The game was there for the taking for Ryan Lowe’s men, even when 2-0 they were not playing badly, that came when they completely faded from the contest towards the end.

When they were back level it could have been 5-2 before it became 2-3, but the visitors took their chances.

It was not only the third goal that changed the game, but also the substitutions.

Lowe opted to take off Browne and Brady after Millwall’s third goal and the pair had been two of the better performers in the side.

From that point on, the team sunk almost without a trace, as Evans was subbed 10 minutes later.

The Welshman was inspired form on the day and looks back to being a real handful for the opposition.

Millwall boss Gary Rowett described him as unplayable after the game and he thought he was going to win PNE the game single-handedly at one point. The biggest difference now for Evans is that he’s added goals to his game.

But it is not all doom and gloom. It is easy to get lost in the negativity after North End again threw away a chance to cement themselves as one of the better sides in the division by ending the first half of the season in the play-off places.

Instead, they are ninth, level with the play-offs, but still three places behind. Given the opportunity at the start of the season to pause in this position, any PNE fan would have taken it.

Credit must go to North End for putting themselves in a position to have a good go at it after the World Cup, but we have seen them in a promising spot once before with an enforced break, and that did not end well.

If you’ve watched PNE long enough, you will be a pessimist, it is always the way – and half the time it’s probably better that way – but there are more than enough reasons to be positive.

It’s not great ending things on a loss, conceding four, and having to wait four weeks to put it right, but once you take a step back, it’s pleasing.

The squad is not quite there and it needs some fine tuning in January, but without being the perfect squad with the perfect balance, they’re in with a shout of making the play-offs and have been in the top six in their own right already this season.

That is, not for an hour whilst another team waited for kick off, they were deservedly in the top six after three wins in just six days. They have it in them.

Lowe knows it too, he sees a lot of what others are seeing right now. He knows it’s not perfect, he knows he needs some reinforcements in the winter window and he also knows that this side are capable of success.

A loss is a loss, they happen. But four wins from six is good form going into the break, and they won’t be spending the next four weeks in the bottom three.