In a game which was largely dominated by the horrific injury to Adam Barton, Preston and Walsall played out a 0-0 draw which didn't lack in effort, but the execution in the final third was rather lacking and goes some way to explain why both teams are where they are in the table.
Unfortunately the main talking point after the game was the event in the 18th minute. Barton went into a sliding challenge to win the ball on the touchline but got his studs caught in the ground and twisted his ankle along with a suspected broken leg (in three places) and it was immediately clear that he was in pain. I was right in front of the incident and it was sickening to see as you could tell that his foot was twisted in the wrong way. However it was poor to see the lax attitude of the referee and the ambulance crew who took several minutes before Barton was attended to and then it took longer before a makeshift cast was put on his foot and ankle, it is a massive shame as not only is Barton only 19 years old but he was starting to find the form we all knew he was capable of and I really hope he comes back an even better player next season.
As for the rest of the game it was clear to see that we have been working on our attacking movement as we were going forward more than we have in recent weeks but whenever we got to the edge of the area the players were confused as to what to do next and pretty much every time we lost possession either by running into a dead end or trying to get the ball through but the ball being cleared to safety, but this was also the case at the other end but Walsall arguably had the better of the chances and should have taken all three points when Florent Cuvelier somehow managed to fire wide when put through on goal with not long to go, once again Thorsten Stuckmann was in magnificent form to pull off a magnificent save with just seconds to go when he tipped over a shot which was destined for the back of the net, defensively we were solid without being assured and perhaps a more potent attacking unit would have scored yesterday, but we've now kept 3 clean sheets in 6 games which shows that the defensive unit has been improved under Westley and if anything we are now a difficult team to beat and slowly but surely Deepdale is becoming a fortress again just like it used to be back in the Championship days when we were pushing for promotion.
With only three games in February not much has been achieved but from the three games that I've seen this month (Hartlepool, Sheffield United and Walsall) at the very least has done enough to show that we aren't going to be dragged into a relegation fight and 4 points out of a possible 9 is about par for the course at this moment in time with a team that is learning to play together as a unit with a new manager, it could easily have been 5/6 points, but it could easily have been only 1 or 2 so I'm not too disappointed with how the month has gone, it could be a lot better, but it is obvious that Westley needs time to turn this team into one that is capable of fighting for promotion after the horror show of the last few years which have been the most depressing football I've ever seen as a Preston fan and even the most turgid of 0-0 draws like yesterday is a step up than some of the dross played in our relegation year and indeed some of the games this season like the 1-0 reverses against Walsall, Bury and Rochdale last autumn which ultimately cost Phil Brown the job after a very poor run of form which didn't really look like it was picking up.
For our next game we travel to Colchester United on March 3rd looking for revenge after the 4-2 defeat on the opening day of the season which showed Preston fans that this season would be a lot tougher than we thought it would be beforehand and it was a case of things to come, both teams have the same amount of points (40) and lie 12th and 13th in the table with both thinking that a win could be the start of a possible late Play Off push with both 9 points off 6th placed Carlisle and Colchester also have a game in hand over the Cumbrians. For Preston it is the beginning of a massive month with no fewer than 9 games being played with games every Saturday and every Tuesday with some key games like Carlisle and Sheffield Wednesday away and it is these 9 games that will decide whether we are destined for mid table medriocrity or play off contendors, at this moment in time I would say the former, but as games go by and the performances pick up, with this Preston side it is hard to say at the moment, but I would say we need a good haul of points next month because April is going to be a very tough month for Preston as we play the likes of Charlton, Huddersfield, MK Dons and a return to Graham Westleys old team Stevenage on Easter Monday which promises to be a tasty encounter and fingers crossed by then Westley has organised us into a team which is shooting up the table, but the only way is up and at least we are starting to collect points again which means we'll avoid what a few teams relegated from the Championship have done which is get relegated again.
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