Rob Davies
Deepdale hasn’t been a particularly happy hunting ground for Swansea City in recent yeses but yesterday’s defeat left a real sour note.
The Swans took a first half lead but were pegged back in the second half before Preston completed the comeback as the game edged towards a close to make it two points from four games this season.
Things looked promising when Harrison Ashby opened the scoring but a weak underbelly was again exposed particularly when Duane Holmes scored the winner.
It will be a busy week for the club as they look set to confirm the signing of Aston Villa striker Keinan Davis whilst the future of Nathan Wood remains up in the air amidst bids from Southampton.
Liam Cullen was the one change from the draw against Coventry replacing the departed Joel Piroe who, ironically, scored on his debut for Leefs United yesterday.
Rushworth
Darling- Cabango – Wood
Ashby – Fulton – Grimes – Patino – Key
Yates – Cullen
The Swans looked reasonably in control during the opening twenty minutes although Jerry Yates seemed to be having an off day and was generally the main culprit for losing possession.
Preston did launch a couple of attacks of their own, buoyed by a good run of form which has seen them take 7 points from their first 3 games in the Championship this season.
But against the run of play it was the Swans who opened the scoring through Harrison Ashby’s first career goal. Patino and Key played some good football down the left before the Arsenal loanee setup Ashby for a strike at the back post.
Suddenly it looked promising for Michael Duff’s men who looked pretty much in control before the break without creating much of note in the quest for a second goal bar a gilt edged chance for Jay Fulton.
The Scot was sent clear on goal with only former Swan Freddie Woodman to beat but he chose to setup Ashby and the ball was lost. Can’t afford to miss chances like this. You get punished…
And that’s what happened midway through the second half as Holmes sent a ball into the box which was delicately headed past Rushworth for 1-1. That sinking feeling again.
Duff responded with a couple of changes bringing on Cooper and Paterson and the latter should have scored with his first touch but – as has been his form for the past 18 months – he missed the chance and the score remained level.
And the comeback was complete when Ali McCann drove past the Swans backline to setup former Derby man Holmes for a powerful strike into the roof of the net.
Three centre backs couldn’t stop the little man from netting the winner and that would again be a major concern for Duff and his team. It’s clear that five at the back is not working and having three centre halves with similar characteristics is not the way forward.
Kukharevych was introduced late on and did have a chest and volley effort off target but that summed up the day in Lancashire and generally the season so far.
Much more needs doing in the transfer market this week and quick. Because at the moment things don’t look fantastic albeit it’s still very early in Duff’s tenure to be drawing any firm conclusions on how this season will go.
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