Preston North End break club record for Championship start

With the current best defensive league record in England’s top four divisions, Ryan Lowe’s Preston North End have made a hugely promising start to the 2022/23 campaign.

Five games into the Championship season, North End are the only team yet to concede within the EPL and EFL, but is that record coming at a cost?

They’ve had a favourable start, facing two promoted sides (Wigan Athletic and Rotherham United), a side promoted the season before last (Hull City) before facing last season’s play-off semi-finalists Luton Town and a relegated side in Watford.

From those games, North End have avoided defeat in any, whilst picking up a 1-0 away win at Kenilworth Road as Luton were defeated by a Puskas award worthy wondergoal by makeshift wing-back Brad Potts.

However, the remainder of the games have been goalless which leaves the question as to whilst the defence is surer that ever, is something now lacking up top?

North End have brought in Tottenham striker Troy Parrott on a season-long loan to boost their attacking ranks but the frontman despite several opportunities, is yet to hit the target in league action.

The Lilywhites did hit the goals in Carabao Cup action, scoring four away at Huddersfield Town in the first round of the competition and therefore setting up a second-round tie with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

But whilst the goals is a worry, manager Ryan Lowe has stated he is confident the goals will come and is pleased with the way the defence have started the new campaign.

Off the back of a 0-0 draw against Watford, Lowe spoke to North End’s official website and said:

“Again, we’ve been solid and resolute against a fantastic Watford team who by all means are going to be up at the top end of the division, they’ve just come down from the Premier League. To nullify their strengths was really pleasing.

“To have five clean sheets on the bounce like that is fantastic. If we can get the other end right, which I’m sure we will very soon, then it bodes well.”

The Lancashire side may well have feared for their defence this season after being significantly weakened by the loss of two very impactful loan signings from last year.

Sepp Van den Berg and Daniel Iversen who both spent 18 months on loan at Deepdale from Liverpool and Leicester City respectively, both haven’t returned to the Championship side and upon their departure, made the North End defence look a shell of what it was.

But Van den Berg, who featured mainly as a right-centre back since Ryan Lowe’s arrival, has been replaced by the returning Jordan Storey who enjoyed a successful loan spell in League One last term with Sheffield Wednesday. Storey has received a lot of plaudits for his start to the campaign, and rightly so.

After looking shaky in the second tier at times, Storey looks a completely different and composed figure showing great resilience to bounce back from a tough spell and using his short-term loan as a great learning experience rather than a negative move for his career.

Then North End had to replace their number one for the past season and a half in Iversen. After making it clear whilst scooping the large majority of trophies at the end of season player awards that any sort of a return would be unlikely, North End needed to get somewhat close to the quality they relied on so heavily between the sticks last season.

And after a patient wait, they found the quality they were looking for in former Newcastle man Freddie Woodman. Signing for an undisclosed fee, Woodman is the first goalkeeper in Preston North End history to keep five consecutive league clean sheets in his first five league games for the club.

But whilst the focus will be to start scoring at the other end of the pitch, Lowe should be delighted with how his side are setting up and as the great Sir Alex Ferguson once said, ‘Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles.’

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