I hate these international breaks and so I'm really looking forward to this afternoon's match. Our last two performances were very impressive with the Reading game displaying our ability to create fantastic flowing moves resulting in goals while the Watford match showed that we can battle back against a tough side that didn't give us an inch.
I think we'll get another win today but we're going to have to fight hard to break the opposition down. When I just checked Preston's league position, I thought there was a mistake as they've only scored three goals so far this season. They've also only conceded four goals in ten games so goalless draws seem to be their speciality. It seems very unlikely that Simms will be fit enough to take part but we clearly have other players who can get a goal or two. I'm back in London so I won't be able to see the game so again it'll be SAFSEE for me. Match prediction: 2-0 to us.
When I got the team news, I saw that the starting line-up was unchanged from the Watford match while the bench was the same too except for Wright being in for Hume. I tuned into SAFSEE still feeling confident about a win.
The opening minutes were uneventful with Preston sounding like they were doing a bit more of the attacking. The first dangerous move was when a Clarke cross was held by Woodman in goal before Embleton could get on the end of it. Gooch conceded a corner and after Batth headed it clear it came in again and Alese made a great stop on the line, hooking the ball over his shoulder. It was becoming very lively with both sides pressing forward. We conceded another corner around the quarter-hour mark and Alese cleared it but soon afterwards Neil gave away an unnecessary free-kick. Patterson saved it and that was about the first thing he'd had to do. We won our first corner a few minutes later but nothing came of it. Preston were zippy on the break but we were defending well with Alese sounding very dependable. Despite Preston committing a number of fouls, referee Andy Woolmer seemed reluctant to show any yellow cards. Clarke saw a decent effort go not far wide in the twenty-fifth minute though we hadn't had one on target yet. Preston were keeping pretty tight reins on us and Embleton and Pritchard hadn't seen much of the ball. A good move on the half-hour mark involving Clarke and Pritchard saw our best effort so far go narrowly wide and just afterwards Reece fluffed a golden chance at the other end. There was a stoppage for several minutes when Browne was down injured and the atmosphere had gone pretty quiet. With five minutes to the break an Embleton shot was blocked and we won our second corner but Preston got it clear and won a free-kick for an Evans foul. We had a couple more shots on target in the dying minutes but it remained 0-0 as the whistle went. Preston had marshalled us well but had got away without any of their players getting a card. It was looking like one goal would have to do it.
There were no changes as we kicked out again but I was sure Mowbray would be bringing some of the new signings on before too long. Almost from the off Whiteman got away with a high tackle and he'd committed several fouls in the first-half. Alese was involved at both ends and he seems to be getting better every game. Woodman was wasting time already and Preston were rapidly becoming one of my unfavourite teams. Patterson did very well to tip over an Evans shot from a Brady free-kick and that was Preston's fifth corner. Finally referee Woolmer showed a yellow card, to Lindsay, though commentator Barnesy reckoned Browne had got one in the first-half – BBC Sport disagreed at any rate. Roberts was booked for a foul. Around the hour-mark we made a double switch bringing on Diallo and Ba for Evans and Embleton so hopefully they'd be able to unlock the Preston defence. With about twenty minutes left it was looking like 0-0 but then Bennette replaced Pritchard, to much applause for both players, and I dreamed of him getting the winner. We were doing most of the pressing anyway and Preston would no doubt be happy with another goalless draw. They were still a threat on their occasional forays forward and they'd clocked up more corners than us. Gooch cleared off the line so that was two crucial stops we'd made. With ten minutes or so on the clock we made our final change when we brought on Dajaku for Clarke. There was still time to nick one. The attendance of over forty-one thousand, two hundred was announced. We were creating chances and Bennette's pace was threatening to create a goal but we couldn't quite manage it as the minutes ticked away. There were three minutes of added-time and not many had left the stadium apparently but we couldn't get that goal and it ended 0-0.
A point and a clean sheet is okay but I'm sure everyone's disappointed like me. I don't look forward to us playing Preston again.
