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One up and five downs from PNE's loss at Huddersfield as Alan Browne & fans share exchange Liverpool loan man Sepp van den Berg scored a second half own goal as PNE lost their third match in three
Preston North End fell to another defeat on Tuesday night as Huddersfield Town ran out 1-0 winners at the John Smith's Stadium.
The result leaves Frankie McAvoy's men pointless and at the foot of the league table after three games played.
Daniel Johnson, Brad Potts, Ched Evans and Ben Whiteman all had chances in the first half, but a Sepp van den Berg own-goal 15 minutes from time saw the home side edge the low-quality contest.
Here are our ups and downs from a difficult evening in West Yorkshire.
Ups Josh Earl takes his chance
He was a surprise inclusion in the starting lineup, to a degree.
Earl hadn't been in the squad for the first two league games but came in at left wing-back, in place of Greg Cunningham, and stood out in the first half display.
He was a main outlet for North End and worked tirelessly down the left flank, where he looked sharp, athletic and dangerous.
"He is a young boy, he has come back and I just need him to put in that type of performance," said McAvoy. "If he does that, he gives himself a chance to be in the team and sometimes you need some harsh chats to get that from them.
"I thought he did really well."
Downs A draw would've been disappointing
PNE faced a poor team on Tuesday night and it was never a game they should've lost.
Huddersfield didn't have a single shot on target and their attack that led to the own goal was the only time they really threatened Daniel Iversen's net.
However, this is the Championship and North End's players know that by now.
There is often the phrase 'if you can't win it don't lose it' thrown around, but to have taken a point against the Terriers would've even been underwhelming - given how little they had offered for the first 74 minutes.
On paper, it was a start that many fans fancied North End's chances in but it's been far from encouraging.
Post-match confrontation
It only took a quick glance at the PNEFC Twitter hashtag after the game to realise that captain Alan Browne hadn't exactly ignored some frustrated supporters in the away end.
Not everyone followed the captain in walking over to the North End fans properly post-match but his decision to do so seemingly led to a heated moment.
We will wait to hear if anything is said in this week's pre-Peterborough press conference, but the word on social media was that Browne went over to clap the travelling support, spotted some fans giving stick and responded in his own way.
The lateness of the changes
In the first half, PNE competed and had some chances despite the surprise front-two selection of Ched Evans and Brad Potts.
But in the second, those two drifted out of the match pretty early on and North End looked like a side that needed some fresh impetus.
Three strikers in Emil Riis, Scott Sinclair and Sean Maguire were on the bench but we only saw the first of those enter the fray in the 75th minute - after Huddersfield had taken the lead.
It felt like PNE needed to change it around the hour mark and really go after a Huddersfield side performing poorly and low on-confidence.
Reaction to going behind
It was a crushing blow to go one behind but there were still 15 minutes left of the game.
However, North End didn't create anything or manage to sustain any kind of real pressure on the Huddersfield goal.
There were long balls played into the box as PNE looked a little bereft of ideas and in truth, the home side looked more like killing the contest with a second.
Sepp's moment
Sepp van den Berg didn't deserve that to go against him.
There are some players in the squad who have started the season disappointingly and Frankie McAvoy needs more from, but Van den Berg wouldn't be one you'd point the finger at.
He gives his absolute all every game, you can see what it means to him and he is still playing out of position in the absence of Matthew Olosunde.
He had no right to make the challenge that led to the own goal and it was so harsh that his recovery run, speed and willingness to track back was ultimately punished - not rewarded.
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
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Meanwhile down the road..... on 11:23 - Aug 19 with 837 views
Remind me again what your captain told the fans to do??
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
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Meanwhile down the road..... on 09:30 - Aug 22 with 795 views
Preston midfielder Brad Potts didn’t enjoy the best afternoon at Nottingham Forest, and captain Alan Browne has leapt to his defence on Twitter this evening.
North End lost 3-0 at the City Ground on Saturday afternoon, once again turning in a poor performance on the road.
Fans maybe feel that Potts should have done better with a chance just before half time.
With the goal at his mercy, Potts blazed the ball over the bar. A huge chance, but other Preston players have missed similar chances this season.
What happened in the second half was a little ugly. Potts was substituted and travelling Preston fans ironically cheered his departure from the pitch.
That sums up the dire mood around Preston fans right now, but that’s something that shouldn’t be repeated moving forward.
Potts is always a hard worker. The goals have dried up for him, but he has been a scapegoat at Deepdale for a long time now and Saturday’s ironic cheers were just ugly.
Captain Alan Browne has now spoken up, taking to Twitter to brand the situation an ‘absolute joke’.
Browne has every right to stand up for his teammate and we would absolutely support him on that.
Let’s hope Browne’s message resonates with Preston fans and the ironic cheers can stop, as there are far bigger issues at North End than Potts.
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
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Meanwhile down the road..... on 07:57 - Nov 9 with 640 views
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
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Meanwhile down the road..... on 18:45 - Dec 7 with 612 views
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
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🎥 "Fans should always be cautious when a club is losing money on a year-by-year basis... But, at present, I'd give it an amber light rather than a red or green"
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
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🎥 "His work in the community and his engagement with supporters at Plymouth Argyle was fantastic. He's brought that here to #Preston North End"#PNEFC director Peter Ridsdale talks to @BBCLancsSport about manager Ryan Lowe, the past season, fan engagement and transfers#bbcefl
— BBC Sport Lancashire (@BBCLancsSport) May 17, 2022
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
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Meanwhile down the road..... on 19:53 - Jan 20 with 366 views
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
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