Liam Millar’s analysis of Ryan Lowe’s second-half substitutions for Preston North End against Watford’s defeat
In the end, PNE lost 1–5 against Watford, with the Canada international setting up the first goal.
Liam Millar, a wide player for Preston North End, didn’t mind much about moving to the right during Saturday’s 1–5 loss to Watford.
For forty-five minutes, the Lilywhites played with great intensity. Will Keane broke the goalless draw at Deepdale, and shortly before halftime, Vakoun Bayo headed Watford even. However, Valerien Ismael’s team went on a scoring spree in the second half, scoring four goals. Given the start Ryan Lowe’s team had made, it was a painful outcome to accept and PNE’s eighth loss in 14 games.
North End gave in just before halftime, soon after halftime, and then surrendered totally at home. After showing promise in the first half, Millar kept posing a threat to Watford’s temporary right back, Tom Dele-Bashiru. However, the FC Basel loan player went to the right as Lowe made four changes after Edo Kayembe made it 1-3.
“I think I played well in the first half and second half I probably could’ve done a bit better in certain situations,” stated Lowe. “Well, that is where I like to play, especially when I am higher up the pitch, but that is just me being honest.” While I enjoy defending others, I don’t think it’s my greatest asset. For that reason, I believe it is the finest thing for me personally when I can influence the game in that way and rise in the ranks.
“I am capable of both sides. Though I can do both, naturally, I lean left. I am obviously more than happy to do anything the gaffer asks me to do. It’s not an issue for me to move over and attempt to do something over there since he wants to bring Rob on and perhaps put some crosses in and whatnot. Naturally, I want to play on the left, but I believe I can play on the right as well; there are no issues.”
Just four games ago, following the heartbreaking 0-2 loss to Queens Park Rangers, PNE’s players had candid post-match talks. Were there conversations along the same lines after the next home game ended in a similarly unsatisfactory way?
“Yeah, it’s hard because we had that big chat after QPR, where we had some hard truths and whatnot,” Millar replied. Though not on the same level—we just had the conversation—it is comparable. Saying things repeatedly won’t make you seem like a broken record, can it? It goes without saying that we are aware that we must improve. It was, I believe, just ‘keep going’ at the half.
In certain instances, we acted a little carelessly. Sometimes when I possessed the ball, I was a little careless, which is how I got the yellow. In several cases, I believe we just needed to exercise more caution.We were attacking and performing well, but the key takeaway, I believe, was that we needed to exercise greater caution. Nobody, I believe, anticipated how the second half would play out.”
“I think we played a really good game in the first forty minutes of the game, before they scored,” he continued. We were pretty much dominant in the game and created a lot of opportunities. We played pretty well, in my opinion. After they scored, we were a little relieved to see the half through because we didn’t want to see them score again. It’s not good that they scored in the first 20 seconds of the second half.Although the second half effort most likely contributed to our 1-5 halftime loss, I don’t think we deserved to continue.”
