PNE are bloody cheats and they deserved that.

[bobbo]

Preston's tactics from the start were to close down our distribution from Button.  Poor control and slow distribution resulted in Preston winning the ball between the 18 yard box and the half way line far too often.  We must learn to change tactics earlier and stop dilly dallying at the back.  Preston's other tactic was to pump the ball high up to our centre backs and then deliberately jump into the centre backs often fouling them with a leading arm or elbow.  These tactics were not picked up by the ref and especially by the linesman running the line on the Stevenage Rdoad side. How Hugill was not punished for his persistent fouling is beyond me.

yes that was so apparent to me right from the first whistle they pressed hard on our back four and continued to do so . Forcing us into slower build ups for attacks this nullifies our normal game of fast flowing passes through midfield that were so obvious last season.
It's very true to say opponents have recognised this and acting accordingly. Slav need to latch onto it and find a remedy

[ffc73]

I thought Preston played us extremely well.  As did Wednesday, Cardiff and Norwich.

As we all seem to see the same pressured tactics on us continually working and Joka has mentioned it on more than one occasion in various pre and post match interviews.   It is not an option to rely on the refs.  We know that this is standard Championship football.  The question is what are the coaching staff and team going to do to combat it?

[PokerMatt]

Thought that while they were certainly not pretty to watch they were bloody-minded, well-organised and effective. Totally stopped us playing for long periods of the first half and had enough chances to bury us.  Cairney, even on one leg, made a huge difference and we just about deserved a point.  Disagree about Hugill  Thought he looked nippy for someone of his size, used his physique well and gave our centre backs a really hard afternoon.

"used his physique well" - well, yes to as degree, but most of that (hitting the defender before the ball has arrived) according to the laws of the game is foul play. I would need at least all my fingers to count the number of fouls that should have been awarded against him.  I don't deny that PNE played well in the first half; our insistence to play cost us,  as their pressure created maybe four of five good chances of which they converted two. But we had equally good chances .. converted zero. Score, and the dynamic of the game could have changed. I thought they did very well and looked dangerous, but at times we too looked as though we could score. So I didn't regard the first half as one-sided at all. We just came off second, and deservedly so .. thanks to their keeper, our finishing .. and their finishing .. if you see what I mean.

Quite right about Hugill.

First half he looked good because Kalas and Ream were trying to play the ball. Second half, Ream in particular, waited for the inevitable back-in from Hugill and instead played the ball with his feet from a lower angle. They had him in the second half, just a shame the ref didn't see that he was always playing the man and never looked at the ball. I don't think he won a single actual header.

[Bill2]

Enough said - beautiful drama

Utter nonsense. Preston were the better team from start to finish. I don't know why they did time waste, they were great. Alex Neil has done a fab job.

I don't know what game you were watching in the second half but we were all over them from kick off. We showed them up to be a long ball team who were very physical.  If they hadn't done so much time wasting they would have won. There keeper kept them in the game especially with the double save in the first half.

They sat back in second half and tried to defend and hit us on the counter + their second half chances were better than ours. For a home side based in 1st and 2nd half together, it's not top six yet.

Their second half chances were better than ours!! I am struggling to think of any clear cut chances they had in the second half. All their play was in the first half when they chased us down especially from stopping our keeper play the ball to feet, but that tactic is very tiring and is why they going down like flies with cramp in the second half.

Why is every one saying what a good side they are, I thought they were tactically astute, but that does not make them a good side and their main tactic was route 1 play long to Hugill and pick up the bones from any knock ons. Saying that I thought the second goal was a good solo effort.

[Denver Fulham]

Enough said - beautiful drama

Utter nonsense. Preston were the better team from start to finish. I don't know why they did time waste, they were great. Alex Neil has done a fab job.

I don't know what game you were watching in the second half but we were all over them from kick off. We showed them up to be a long ball team who were very physical.  If they hadn't done so much time wasting they would have won. There keeper kept them in the game especially with the double save in the first half.

They sat back in second half and tried to defend and hit us on the counter + their second half chances were better than ours. For a home side based in 1st and 2nd half together, it's not top six yet.

Their second half chances were better than ours!! I am struggling to think of any clear cut chances they had in the second half. All their play was in the first half when they chased us down especially from stopping our keeper play the ball to feet, but that tactic is very tiring and is why they going down like flies with cramp in the second half.

Why is every one saying what a good side they are, I thought they were tactically astute, but that does not make them a good side and their main tactic was route 1 play long to Hugill and pick up the bones from any knock ons. Saying that I thought the second goal was a good solo effort.

Their same guy on the left wing had like three terrific chances inside the box to end the match at 2-0 and blew all of them

[One Martin Thomas]

I'm just glad some people have joined in the debate and saw what I saw.

[One Martin Thomas]

Enough said - beautiful drama

Utter nonsense. Preston were the better team from start to finish. I don't know why they did time waste, they were great. Alex Neil has done a fab job.

I don't know what game you were watching in the second half but we were all over them from kick off. We showed them up to be a long ball team who were very physical.  If they hadn't done so much time wasting they would have won. There keeper kept them in the game especially with the double save in the first half.

They sat back in second half and tried to defend and hit us on the counter + their second half chances were better than ours. For a home side based in 1st and 2nd half together, it's not top six yet.

Their second half chances were better than ours!! I am struggling to think of any clear cut chances they had in the second half. All their play was in the first half when they chased us down especially from stopping our keeper play the ball to feet, but that tactic is very tiring and is why they going down like flies with cramp in the second half.

Why is every one saying what a good side they are, I thought they were tactically astute, but that does not make them a good side and their main tactic was route 1 play long to Hugill and pick up the bones from any knock ons. Saying that I thought the second goal was a good solo effort.

Their same guy on the left wing had like three terrific chances inside the box to end the match at 2-0 and blew all of them

Thank you.

[ffc2004]

Saying that I thought the second goal was a good solo effort.

Although the deflection off of their own player absolutely killed Button, no chance he could readjust to save it at that pace.

[mrmicawbers]

QPR supporters were moaning about us time wasting at their place and our players going down to easily. Frustration when your behind always seem worse.

[Burt]

Difficult to complain about time wasting etc. when the way the matches are officiated makes it part of a game plan, and one which if the boot was on the other foot we would probably have done as well to wind down the clock. It's not great viewing, and it's frustrating to the team that are doing the chasing, but it is what it is.

Preston had our number in the first half, they played a high line, closed down quickly and throttled our preference to play out from the back and ultimately their two goals were down to us losing possession in a dangerous place.

Fair play to them, good tactics.

The key learnings are:
1. We need to be more ruthless when we carve out a chance. We had a couple of good opportunities to take the lead before they got their first goal.
2. We need a plan B for when other teams do play the way Preston did in the first half.

The second half was predominantly one-way traffic, although they did look dangerous on the break. Hats off to the team for never giving up, in the end the equaliser was well deserved and on balance a draw was probably a fair result.

[Woolly Mammoth]

It wouldn't surprise me if Preston end the season up there amongst the play offs, well organised, gritty and tenacious.