Consistency needed for Preston North End and Watford

Neither Preston nor Watford are a million miles away from where their supporters would love to be this season but both have struggled for consistency.

The pair meet on Tuesday night at Deepdale with both having picked up massive wins at the weekend, albeit for different reasons. Watford hammered struggling Bristol City 6-0 while Preston went to local rivals Blackburn and claimed all three points thanks to a 2-1 victory.

Alex Neil’s men find themselves in 11th place, seven points behind Bournemouth in the last play off spot. While it looks difficult from there, a few wins on the bounce would do wonders for their league position. Only once this season have they managed three wins on the bounce but that was sandwiched in between four defeats.

It’s been a case of one step forward, one step backwards and on that basis their mid table position is a good reflection on their season. There are mitigating factors at play here. Due to the contract situation of the ‘Big 5’, there was plenty of business conducted in the January transfer window.

The Lilywhites brought in no fewer than eight players while nine went out the door. The future of those five key players has been sorted, with some closure brought on the whole situation. Ben Davies departed for Liverpool, Ben Pearson joined Bournemouth while Darnell Fisher made the switch to playoff rivals Middlesbrough.

On the positive side, Alan Browne and Daniel Johnson have committed to new contracts while the loan signings of Anthony Gordon and Jayson Molumby are a significant boost to the squad. Ben Whiteman was also quite a coup, with the former Doncaster man highly sought after.

There should now be some stability for Neil’s side to go on a run and have a strong second half of the season.

Watford themselves may now have their eyes on something bigger than the playoffs. Xisco Munoz’s men are just six points behind Brentford in second and will hope Saturday’s win will be a platform to build on.

It was more of a subdued window for the Hornets with Achraf Lazaar, Philip Zinckernagel, Dan Gosling and Rob Elliott coming in to bolster a squad already brimming with talent.

Again, on only one occasion have Watford managed three consecutive wins but that was followed up by three games without a win. A couple of those results going their way would have them in a much better position to bounce straight back to the Premier League.

In Ismaila Sarr and Joao Pedro they possess two of the most exciting talents outside of the top flight and that coupled with a solid defence brings hope that they can go on the kind of run needed to get past two of Brentford, Swansea and Norwich.

With neither side having any fresh injuries to report we should be treated to a close encounter on Tuesday night with three points on offer that would give either side a huge boost. It’s time to ensure those steps forward outnumber the steps backward.

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