Preston North End's Manager Paul HeckingbottomPreston North End's Manager Paul Heckingbottom
Preston North End's Manager Paul Heckingbottom | CameraSport - Dave Howarth
PNE drew 1-1 with West Brom on Saturday afternoon at Deepdale
How do you think Josh Bowler did on the whole?
“Yeah, pleased with him,” said Heckingbottom. “I think we have spoken before about us feeling like we had him going the right way. Then, not the last international break but the one before it, he had a couple of illnesses and missed a lot. His fitness dropped right off and then you can’t get him in the team, because he is not at the level. Then there is frustration, obviously, but he has knuckled down and if he hadn’t done the work, he wouldn’t have lasted the 60 minutes and looked the threat he did.
“So, yeah, listen people will expect him to create and score goals. He was doing his work without the ball as well and I didn’t expect him to last the game, but when we made that change a lot of it was tactical. When they shifted to a five to try and stop us, it meant Fellows was left wing-back. So, it was just common sense then to put Pottsy on against him.”
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Did you like how McCann and Thordarson looked, as a pair?
“I thought they were good,” said Heckingbottom. “Whichever two would’ve been on there, it would’ve been the same message. They were looking to get on the ball in the first half, the midfield three, but generally in front of their midfield. Which, especially when you are one-nil up, is fine for them. As the game wore on, we did get more bodies behind. Then, it was about the decision making. We had a lot of bodies in the box when Josh blazed over and when Kaine blazed over. The best moment, and best play, was when we were really patient and got Sam on the ball. He came in, delivered and Josh nearly scored at the back post.”
Were you pleased for Dai Cornell?
“He looked calm,” said Heckingbottom. “He is fine with his feet, that is one thing we know he has got. But listen, you could ask Freddie or Dai - at the minute, in our team, goalkeepers are protected really, really well. We will set the team up really well in terms of nullifying opposition and we put big demands on players to defend properly. It really, really helps your centre-backs and goalkeeper. Dai, having now been in, has probably experienced the same as Freddie.”
From 12th down, you have lost the fewest games in the league. Are you confident that the platform is there more often than not in matches? But, you want those wins?
“Yeah, 100 per cent,” said Heckingbottom. “It is 100 per cent about results. But, you cannot guarantee it. All you can guarantee is performances and we are performing well above the majority. What I want is those moments, players who can create those moments and three points. I want to make sure that in games like that, where I feel we’ve been the best team, we win. And, I also want to make sure that when we are not the best team - in terms of the flow of the game - we have got moments and players who can deliver and win a game one-nil. That is what we are aiming for. That’s what we want to get to.”
On it being nine without a win, the PNE boss told BBC Lancashire: “(Performance) is the only thing we can control, so it’s the only thing we can be worried about. Two halves this season - first half at Millwall and first half at Portsmouth - we have not performed. A really strange game at Oxford. Apart from that, we have performed and that’s why it’s frustrating. When I go home at night I am frustrated about it, but I cannot control what referees or the opposition do - only our team. If we perform like that, we will be fine. But, right now I would take the three points over a performance.”
Is that about turning the players you’ve got here into that, or do you need some new ones?
“These players can do that, they have shown it,” said Heckingbottom. “This game is the perfect example of the block of games we have been in. The clearance off the line from them in the first half - and then I think Jack’s header hit Emil on the line, in the second half. So, those little things at the minute are not going our way. Then we are talking about having not won in so long. I cannot worry about that, just the performance and making sure we are creating those moments. I am coming off pleased with those and then, in time, that will change.”
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