Defeat of the Dons

The great away win yesterday against MK Dons highlighted the incompetence of Phil Brown as Graham Alexander and David Unsworth took charge of the team for the first time. They put players in their familiar positions and initially adopted a simple but solid 4-4-2.

We all watched the game so there is no need for a match report, but it was obvious that many of the senior players and staff disagreed with Brown's previous selections and systems, as the reversal back to a more traditional system shows.

The MK Dons were fourth in the league and went into the game in top form. They were unable to break PNE's defence down and looked to lack creativity and their team consisted of a few poor players who looked clumsy and lacked technique on the ball. But they are considered one of the better teams in the league.

The major change in the game occurred with the injury of Mellor relatively early in the game. The caretaker managers seemed reluctant to put Tsoumou on as Mellor's replacement and used Adam Barton in behind the lone striker Iain Hume, which meant that PNE struggled to keep the ball at the top of the pitch, as we were often outnumbered by the Dons defence line. This invited on a lot of pressure but PNE defended admirably, particularly Craig Morgan, who we feel deserved the man of the match as he probably had his best game in Preston colours.

If Mellor had stayed injury free and on the field, the game could have played out much differently, as Hume and Mellor had linked up particularly well early on and looked dangerous, along with the deep runs from Paul Coutts who looked good on the ball and also the trickery of Danny Mayor on the right, who looked to take on his man whenever he could and troubled the Don's defence early on.

The game shows that PNE are one of the best teams in the league and under Phil Brown have been punching under their weight. With some confidence and players returning from injury anything is possible for this team and we are in a good position going into the hectic Christmas period, just three points off the play-offs.

Preston

• 01 Stuckmann 7- Did well when required, another solid performance. Sign him up!
• 02 Gray 6- No mistakes, work needed with Mayor if they are to form a partnership on right.
• 06 Morgan 9- Solid, won many headers and didn't look like being beaten. (Our MotM)
• 14 Smith 6- Had match fitness finally, fairly solid. One dodgy header led to a chance.
• 39 McCombe 7-Could have been sent off, grew into game. Better second half.yellow card
• 08 Coutts 8- Much better centrally, good runs, creative going forward. Sky's MotMyellow card
• 16 Mayor 7- started well, skilfull runs, decent delivery. Needs to be more involved throughout the whole game, hopefully this game gave him confidence.
• 17 Parry (McLaughlin 82yellow card) 7- goalscorer with powerful header, helped Smith well defensively. (6- Only on for short time, quick booking, great late effort that looked destined for top corner).
• 38 Doyle 7- Looked fit and athletic, played well centrally put tackles in. Hopefully be more involved in the future.
• 07 Hume (Tsoumou 66) 6- Not best of games, hard time on his own up-front though and not fully fit yet. But looked good with Mellor early on. (5- We all witnessed Tsoumou's first touch when one-on-one with keeper. Enough said).
• 33 Mellor (Barton 31) 7- Shame about injury looked a handful early on. Hopefully back soon. (6- A little disappointed, fairly ineffective didn't offer Hume enough support.)