Preston North End suffered defeat again at the weekend in a 3-1 home defeat to struggling Oxford United to mount more pressure on manager Paul Heckingbottom.
This defeat leaves the Lilywhites with one win in their previous ten leaving them 13th after a promising start to the season where they showed serious play-off potential.
They travel to in-form league-leaders Coventry City on Wednesday night as they look to pick up their first away win since 13th December.
So, where has it all gone wrong for Heckingbottom’s side so far this season?
Since the turn of the year, the atmosphere has turned sour at Deepdale – having picked up just seven points including a 3-0 victory over already relegated Sheffield Wednesday.
Back-to-back defeats against Millwall and Oxford at home have left fans seriously questioning whether the former Sheffield United manager is the man to take them forward any further.
With just seven wins at home from 19 games played, it is no surprise that Preston have begin to fall down the league table with fans not happy with the performances.
Heckingbottom also has commented that every team that has won at Deepdale this year has had less possession than the hosts – but hasn’t done anything to adjust to how teams are playing.
North End signed Callum Lang from Portsmouth, Andrew Moran from Brighton and Milos Lukovic on loan from Strasbourg in the January transfer window but they are yet to hit the ground running.
Lang has made five appearances since joining the club, achieving two assists in 243 minutes played in his time at Preston and is yet to play a full game.
Moran has made one appearance since joining, coming on in the 87th minute against Portsmouth and Lukovic was subbed at half-time in his only appearance – also in that game against Pompey.
Midfielder Harrison Armstrong returned to Everton as well as Stefan Thodarson and Mads Frokjaer-Jensen departing on permanent deals to Brondby IF and Hannover 96 which left the Lilywhites weaker than the start of the window.
With other teams around improving significantly in January, it appears that Preston have fell behind in depth, squad level and overall performance and in conclusion slipped from 4th to 13th.
Since Heckingbottom’s appointment, Friday nights defeat to Oxford probably gave him his worst reception post-match and he cannot complain at fans being unhappy.
With one win in ten, it has been an abysmal period for Preston and regardless of performances being good or not – football is a results game, and he has not been picking them up.
His win percentage leaves a lot to be desired, sitting at just 1.3 points per game and a 31% games turning out to be a win – it is not good enough, especially when it is worse than former manager Ryan Lowe’s, who they forced out a lot quicker than Heckingbottom.
Before this bad run of form, PNE were ruthless and competitive at times when they felt like it – they have beaten Ipswich, taken points of Middlesborough and Coventry but the easier games is where they have succumbed to failure.
The last few weeks have been a tough period for Preston, but they are arguably not picking up the points they have deserved.
0-3 and 4-0 defeats in five days, conceding a 92nd minute penalty at Ipswich to draw, losing at Blackburn in the 95th minute and conceding a 95th minute equaliser at Swansea after dominating the game.
These are events that have all happened in the last three months in their slide down the table but ultimately they could be at least five points better up without conceding late, silly goals away from home – which would have them 7th and just three points off playoffs.
