Preston North End in Numbers: Tom Barkhuizen's 74-game streak in the Championship

Tom Barkhuizen's ankle injury at Hull a couple of weeks ago ended something of a streak for the winger.
Tom Barkhuizen celebrates his goal against RotherhamTom Barkhuizen celebrates his goal against Rotherham
Tom Barkhuizen celebrates his goal against Rotherham

Being unavailable for the trip to the KCOM Stadium meant the Preston North End speedster missing his first Championship game since February 11, 2017.

That’s a run of 74 straight league matches, some achievement for a player who made the jump up from League Two and Morecambe when he arrived at Deepdale.

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Barkhuizen was eased in on his arrival but didn’t look back after coming off the bench in a 4-2 win over Brentford.

Tom Barkhuizen celebrates his goal against RotherhamTom Barkhuizen celebrates his goal against Rotherham
Tom Barkhuizen celebrates his goal against Rotherham

The start of his run came in his first half-season with the club having officially arrived from the Shrimps in January 2017 and included a run of six goals in six games that saw him named the Championship Player of the Month for March.

The manager who had signed him, Simon Grayson, left that summer but Barkhuizen kicked on again under Alex Neil and featured in all 46 league games as PNE finished seventh and only just missed out on the play-offs.

Of those appearances, 43 were starts with just three coming off the bench.

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Including the cups that’s 3,735 minutes of action for the No.29 in his first full season at the club, some shift for a player who had struggled to put regular football together at times in the past.

This campaign, Barkhuizen again started as a key figure and has featured in 14 of the 15 league games with his impressive run of action in the Championship only ended by an injection in his ankle ahead of the Hull game.

Four appearances have already come from the bench this campaign, replacing Graham Burke against Stoke and Derby, coming on at half-time against Bolton and taking the place of Callum Robinson early in the second half against West Bromwich Albion.

He has played 1,080 minutes, the seventh most in the PNE squad so far this campaign.

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Barkhuizen’s header in the 1-1 draw against Rotherham last time out was his fourth goal of the season and third in his last three games.

More form like that, and who would bet against him putting together another similar run in the side?

Away from Barkhuizen, a quirky attendance stat showed itself against the Millers on Saturday.

Prior to the game the average attendance at Deepdale in league and cup this season was 11,780.

The crowd against Rotherham? You guessed it, 11,780.