Better - but it is another defeat

We saw a side win a game despite playing badly at Roots Hall on Tuesday, and that's what we need to do. It doesn't matter that this performance was infinitely better than the one we had turned in four days earlier, it doesn't matter that we hit the woodwork twice, what does matter is that we slipped closer to those relegation positions and now sit only two points above Southend who themselves have dropped back into the bottom three.

It's always a tale of ifs and buts and our visit to Deepdale was no different. They were a side that had bounced back from a defeat at Hull to beat Ipswich and were going into the game with confidence. When we last won we sat just four points behind Preston, when we kicked off yesterday they had increased that lead over us to twenty-four points, there was no doubt who would be going into the game with most confidence.

We've been accused of being a negative side, of playing long ball stuff, and not getting players up to support the front men. Even Steve Cotterill admitted this week that we're not getting enough players in and around the opposition's box. None of that can be labelled against us after this game when we tried to attack Preston at every opportunity.

Cotterill made three changes to the side that had fallen to that defeat at Southend, although two of them were forced on him. John McGreal, as expected, was ruled out with his groin injury and Steve Jones came in to replace him with Chris McCann moving into the centre of defence.

Kyle Lafferty returned to the starting line up in place of Andy Gray who has been laid up with illness all week. He's lost a considerable amount of weight and even at Southend was showing strong signs of the illness.

The one unforced change was the one that saw Joey Gudjonsson left out, giving loan player Eric Djemba-Djemba his first start since Mike Riley ridiculously sent him off at Derby at the end of January.

I thought we needed to keep it tight in the first twenty minutes, not let Preston get the upper hand at all, but we came strongly out of the blocks and would have had an early lead but for a magnificent save from Preston keeper Andy Lonergan and the Deepdale woodwork.

It came from a free kick on the right win, won following a bad foul on Wade Elliott by Matt Hill. This foul was the first inkling that we might have a poor referee on our hands, and my word this incompetent official didn't let us down. How on earth he didn't book Hill, and then St. Ledger and Nugent (twice) during the rest of the first half takes some believing.

Wade hit the cross over the far post which found Kyle whose header looked goal bound right in front of the big Burnley contingent in the Shankly, but Lonergan got to it and tipped it onto the post before scrambling it away for a corner.

Reports recently have suggested that Lonergan has been playing very well, make no mistake this was no ordinary save made even better by the fact it was the first time he'd been called into action.

We pushed forward, won more free kicks, got another couple of corners whilst nothing much was happening at the other end of the pitch. But we didn't score, and when Preston got the opportunity they did.

Steven Caldwell, impressive again, got in a good header to clear the ball but when it came back Brett Ormerod, currently trying to do Edgar Davids impressions, brought the ball down for David Nugent to hit home.

We'd seen little, if anything, from Nugent, other than a bit of his usual petulance, but he's rated the best striker in the Championship right now, and that's why. He got the chance and he stuck it away.

Preston didn't have another chance in the first half, but Lonergan again did well to keep out a Steve Jones shot. The former Crewe man was very disappointing on his return but did look that little bit sharper when he found himself in the centre.

For the last ten minutes or so of the first half we had Graham Branch warming up, and with captain Caldwell in some discomfort. He broke his hand ten days ago, he played with it strapped up at Southend, but to add to that he landed awkwardly on his shoulder. I think we feared the worst - I think we can all remember Branch at centre half.

Half time came with no changes although Branch was not with the other substitutes warming up. We started the second half without a change, but there were less than two minutes gone when we had to make the change. Michael Duff moved into the centre, Wade went to full back, Kyle took the right hand side and Branchy went up front.

A goal down we had little option and continued to press forward. We needed a little invention, we needed a little bit of luck, and the latter certainly didn't come when Branchy came close to grabbing a much needed equaliser.

Eric DJDJ won a good header, Branch won the next one, and as the ball was half headed clear Jimmy O got up and won the ball in the air to find Branchy. As the ball dropped about twenty yards out, our longest serving player crashed a right foot shot on the volley onto the Preston bar. It bent, it curled, it had some power, and for once Lonergan was helpless, and then relieved as he saw it came back.

It continued, they somehow got a McCann header off the line, Lonergan again did well to keep out Ade Akinbiyi but when Kyle Lafferty got into the Preston box on the right hand side disaster, and defeat, were just around the corner.

Kyle went down under a challenge, half the Shankly went up, I wasn't so sure. Webster gave nothing and with fifteen seconds the home side had doubled their lead. Nugent again was involved, this time as provider, and Patrick Agyemang just couldn't miss just a few minutes after coming on as a substitute.

Was it a penalty? As I said, I didn't think so but I was 150 yards away, observers closer to the incident have since told me they thought Preston had got away with it. We didn't get it, we conceded a goal, and another defeat had by now been confirmed.

We were never really close to getting back into it after that. There were a few more bookings, Branchy could have been sent off for raising his hands, and I don't think referee Webster, as bad an official as we've seen this season, had a clue what was going on.

It's another defeat, and that is all that matters, but it was a much better performance with some good individual displays. Caldwell would have been a candidate for man of the match for me, but he played only half a game. Danny Coyne's handling was excellent throughout, turning in a performance that must have answered his critics.

I thought we were stronger in midfield, and much of that is down to the fact that I thought we had someone in there winning the ball for us. His distribution might not always be the best but I do think that Eric Djemba-Djemba made a difference.

I was so down after the defeat at Southend, beaten by a downright bad side after a poor performance, and made worse by the late goal that was nothing short of sickening. I'm still down after this game, still seen another defeat, but it is a performance that has left me with a lot more optimism than of late. I thought it was much better, we attacked Preston, we got players forward and into the box, we played with a real commitment that suggested we'd rolled our sleeves up and got ourselves ready for the battle.

I've just taken a look at this horrendous run of results, seventeen league games without a win which has equalled a club record that has stood for no fewer than 117 years. In this run only six of those games have been played at home. Not as though our home record is brilliant but we do now have 67% of our remaining games at the Turf.

It is still in our hands, I don't think we'll need too many more points. We've all got a job to do now, the manager, the players and us the fans. We all need to give this club our 100% support. I said after Tuesday that we the fans will be the ones to suffer should we go down, let's do our bit to ensure that doesn't happen.

Come on you Clarets.

The teams at Preston were;

Preston: Andy Lonergan, Graham Alexander, Sean St. Ledger, Liam Chilvers, Matt Hill, Frank Songo'o (Patrick Agyemang 72), Chris Sedgwick (Adam Nowland 89), Callum Davidson, Danny Pugh, David Nugent, Brett Ormerod (Danny Dichio 80). Subs not used: Wayne Henderson, Seyfo Soli.

Burnley: Danny Coyne, Michael Duff, Steven Caldwell (Graham Branch 47), Chris McCann, Jon Harley, Wade Elliott, James O'Connor (John Spicer 76), Eric Djemba-Djemba, Steve Jones, Kyle Lafferty, Ade Akinbiyi. Subs not used: Brian Jensen, Garreth O'Connor, Joey Gudjonsson.

Referee: Colin Webster (Shotley Bridge).

Attendance: 17,666.