Preston were a much better footballing team. We set up 4-4-1-1 but Freeman drifted too central so the right flank was mainly vacant in the first half. We had very little imagination or possesion in the first half. Manning was brought on for Samuel at half time. Eze went out wide and mass played off Smith who was very lonely up top, flicking balls on to nobody. We were pretty poor, Smith only has the mobility to play in a 3m circumference so needs players closer to him. We looked better when sylla came on for him. What really surprised me was our warm up, considering the heat and conditions. We were out at least 15 minutes earlier than Preston whose warm up was a lot lighter. They looked fresher at the kick off that was for sure. Our limited attacks were based around clearances. I know this was the first game and we shouldn't judge, but it was also everyone else's opening game so we have to try find some positives. Today, for me, those were our Geman skipper, comfortable and sensible, Freeman to an extent, he tried hard but sometimes chooses the wrong options. The other positive was that we could have lost by more on another day. It really was a class save by their keeper in the end to deny us a point. In my opinion we are at least 4/5 players away from competing on a decent level.
