Swans v Preston | Vital Football

Swans v Preston

K

keith margam

Vital Football Legend
Preston next up this Saturday 17 August, 3pm.
Both teams won their Carabao Cup matches mid-week, and it was a convincing 0-4 win at Bradford City for Preston.
Preston’s first league game of the season was a 1-0 defeat at Millwall, but they bounced back with a 3-0 win at home to Wigan in the local derby last Saturday.

Our corresponding home fixture last season on 11 August against Preston resulted in a 1-0 victory.
Jay Fulton scored his first league goal with a header from an Asoro cross. McBurnie missed a penalty, and goalkeeper Nordfeldt went off injured after 21 minutes and was replaced by Mulder, making his first team debut.
The team that day:
Nordfeldt (Mulder 21’, Roberts, Hoorn, Rodon, Olsson, Fulton, Carroll, Asoro (Grimes 56’), Celina, McKay (Fer 75’), McBurnie
 
A Preston view on their upcoming match against Swansea on Saturday from manager Alex Neil:

“It’s amazing what a couple of results can do, they have given everyone a lift and rightly so.

We played really well to beat Wigan 3-0 and then went to Bradford with a different set of lads and won 4-0. They were two great games for us, we needed that, the club needed that and the fans needed to see that.

People might think we won 4-0 at Bradford, that is the team which should play.

Last weekend, though, the lads turned over a good Wigan side who had already beaten Cardiff, so it is about getting the balance right.

The two squads were a bit different in what they could do.

In the team against Wigan there were a lot of technicians which worked very well.

It could be that we have to add counter-attacking pace and directness to the team

I think what is important is making sure all the lads know they have an equal opportunity of playing.

Look at Louis Moult, he is probably a prime example.

In the first game he wasn’t in the squad then last week he was great for us.

Louis is the flag-bearer in terms of showing what you can if you get an opportunity.

It says to the rest of the lads if you aren’t playing one week it doesn’t mean you won’t get a chance.”
 
Preston aren't a bad side under O'Neill and I hope we show more of ourselves tomorrow than we did last season early on. We struggled in the second half and had to hold on for the 1-0 win. We started slow against Hull but picked things up in the second half. On average goals tend to be scored around 65-75 minutes so it helps if we can end games stronger
 
Swansea 3 - Preston 2
Baston 45’,69’ - Rafferty 11’, Johnson 67’ pen
Byers 63’

Possession: 49% - 51%
Shots: 13 - 17
On Target: 4 - 5
Corners: 4 - 9
Fouls: 12 - 10
Bookings: 0 - 1

Attendance: 15,250

Referee: Dean Whitestone 2/10
 
Another first half of a game where we couldn’t get our game together and Preston scored as early as the 11th min, Woodman slow to react to Rafferty’s long range shot. We were high pressed, out-passed and outplayed and it was a relief not to concede more.
Dyer went off after 22 mins with a suspected hamstring injury and was replaced by Ayew.
In the fourth min of injury time we managed an equaliser against the run of play, Roberts laying off the ball for Baston to steer home.

Byers replaced Kalulu at half time. Second half we were much better and we went ahead when Baston mis-hit an attempted shot on goal and it fell to Byers who volleyed home.
Preston bounced back and gained a penalty when Roberts barged into Maguire in the penalty area. Woodman dived the right way but couldn’t stop the shot from Johnson. Two mins later we went ahead again in this end to end tussle, a Bidwell chipped ball for Baston to head home. Surridge came on for Baston at 81 mins.

The win takes us up to 4th place, with the top five teams in the table all on 7 points.
 
Hard to understand why we’re slow starters in games, and it’s something that Cooper needs to work on. So far it hasn’t cost us points but we need it sorting.

Borja was again our fox in the box with a brace of goals, can we afford to let him go.

Preston looked a good side and should have a good season under the canny Scotsman Alex Neil. Though I didn’t like his constant complaining at every decision to the 4th Official, nor his continuous wandering outside his box and on to the touch line. Much like his team, who gave the ref a hard time with any decision that went against them. It must have helped them because the ref gave them free kicks galore in the hope they’d equalise, weak reffing at best.
 
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