Match Day Thread Preston North End v Mansfield Town Deepdale 29/8/2020

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We first met these lads in a FA Cup tie in 1949 , the next meeting was 31 years later when Alan Ball Senior was the manager.

LAST MEETING AT DEEPDALE

PRESTON NORTH END 1 MANSFIELD TOWN 0 Auto Windscreen game 27/1/1998

LAST MEETING

MANSFIELD TOWN 0 PRESTON NORTH END 4 League Cup 21/9/2004 in the Town side that night Alex Neil

MACS MEMORIES

This one is an oddity Town played a reserve game at Deepdale early 1990's We on 6-0 in the Town side was Daley Thompson Olympic Decathelete,I know this for a fact I was at the game

The first competitive action of the 2020/21 season gets underway on Saturday – two weeks before the Championship starts – as North End take on Mansfield Town in the first round of the Carabao Cup.
The Lilywhites are two weeks into the preparations for the start of the league campaign, but will hope to be ready for the clash with the Stags, who are playing their first competitive match since they beat now-promoted Northampton Town back in March!

This will mean it is their first experience of the behind closed doors environment, with PNE returning to Deepdale for the first time since they defeated Birmingham City back in mid-July.

Team News
PNE manager Alex Neil has confirmed that he will be without goalkeeper Declan Rudd, who played every minute or every league game in 2018/19, with Connor Ripley and Mathew Hudson competing for the slot between the sticks.

Darnell Fisher is also missing, along with Louis Moult, who is back running outside, but is yet to join his team-mates in full training after a year on the sidelines with an ACL injury suffered at Swansea City in August 2019.

For the visitors, midfielder Ollie Clarke will continue to be assessed in the days leading up to the fixture after a recent calf strain, but defender Joe Riley will miss the game due to an ACL injury suffered in training.

Opposition View
Stags boss Graham Coughlan is looking forward to bringing his side to PR1. Speaking to Mansfield Town’s official website he admitted it would be a new experience – without the supporters – but one they were ready for.

“We can’t wait to get going and we’re looking forward to Saturday,” he began. “It’s been a long, long time [since we’ve played competitively], but we’re getting close to our first competitive game.

“The adrenaline starts to kick in and we can’t wait to get going. You miss that adrenaline rush and the atmosphere.

“Saturday will be different – it will be hard as we won’t have the fans. But there will be a competitive edge, and you do miss that competitive side of the game.

“We’ll give a good account of ourselves [on Saturday] and the lads are looking forward to it. Let’s go, enjoy it, do our best, and see where we are at five o’clock on Saturday.

“Make no mistake, we want to win the game. We’re going down there to try and make a name for ourselves.

“We want to get through it injury-free, but if there’s a tackle to be made, we’ll tackle, if there’s a header to be won, we’ll win it.”

Match Officials
The referee for Saturday's game will be Ross Joyce, with Geoffrey Liddle and Paul Newhouse the assistants and the fourth official will be Simon Mather.

Ross was last the referee of the weekend’s opponents when Mansfield lost at Bradford City back in December 2019, 2-0 at the home of the Bantams.

However, after five years on the EFL lists, this will be his first time officiating the Lilywhites


Opposition fans view

stagsnet.net/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=8

 

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Half time
PNE 3 Barkhizen, Maguire, Bauer Mansfield Town 0

Tow better for the first 15 minutes getting joy down their right hand side, Cook hit the post might have taken a slight deflection off Ripley, shot from the corner well blocked as it appeared to be goalbound. Within a couple of minutes we were ahead Barmhuizen class finish from about 15 yards. Soon two Harrop through ball to Maguire, left footed finish. Bauer scored at the back post following an awful corner which escaped everyone.
Well in control could be damage liitatins for Town with 6 debutants, can safely say we are in the second round.

 

One further goal in the second half after a flowing move Harrop potted, as with the first half Town started it well Cook had a half chance but once had been missed it was cruise control for the Whites, Bayliss denied by a good save after Harrop's Messiesque run, Potts missed a sitted as Did Barkhuizen from an inch perfect Ledson cross, nicely through will meet tougher opposition in the weeks to come still issues re the keeper

 

Job done efficiently.

 

One further goal in the second half after a flowing move Harrop potted, as with the first half Town started it well Cook had a half chance but once had been missed it was cruise control for the Whites, Bayliss denied by a good save after Harrop's Messiesque run, Potts missed a sitted as Did Barkhuizen from an inch perfect Ledson cross, nicely through will meet tougher opposition in the weeks to come still issues re the keeper

 

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Stags’ boss Graham Coughlan says that this afternoon’s game at Preston North End was ‘beneficial’ in terms of increasing fitness levels within his squad, and that the eventual 4-0 scoreline was a ‘harsh lesson’ for his players.

Three first-half goals, added to by Josh Harrop in the second-half, meant that the Stags exited the Carabao Cup in the first round.

The boss, despite being left disappointed with his side’s display, was pleased that eight of his men completed a full 90 minutes.

“Without being too clever about it, I learned that we’re still short. We still need organisation and structure,” he told iFollow Stags

“The lads need a lot more work put into them. It was nice to get eight of them through 90 minutes. That is a plus point.

“We’ve learned not to give the ball away to good teams. There were times where we spent ten or 15 minutes chasing the ball.

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“I’d like to see a little more composure and a better thought process when we have the ball. All-in-all it’s been a massive awakening and it’s been beneficial to get the fitness work in.

“We kept going and didn’t stop. Fitness levels are up there and I’m relatively pleased with where we are fitness-wise.

“We now need to work on quality and attention to detail. We need to be a little more clinical in and around the opponents’ goal.”

The manager says that the result is ‘tough to take,’ and that the Stags must retain possession more effectively.

“It’s tough to take. I thought they [Preston] were excellent, the better team by far. Overall, I’m really disappointed with the goals that we conceded.

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“We gave the ball away cheaply and if you do that against a team like this, you’re going to be in trouble.

“We’re young, we’re developing – we’re still a fair way off, but that was a harsh lesson for us to take today.

“I was expecting them to have most of the possession, but I didn’t expect us to concede with the ease which we did.

“We had two or three opportunities, but those big moments in games, we need that tide to turn and be a little more clinical in front of goal.

“But we’ll make no excuses as they were far the better side today.”

 

Preston North End manager Alex Neil was pleased with his side’s performance as they beat League Two side Mansfield Town 4-0 to progress to the second round of the Carabao Cup.

Tom Barkhuizen, Sean Maguire and Patrick Bauer all scored within the first 30 minutes at Deepdale before Josh Harrop sealed the victory in the second half.

The visitors had hit the post in the 11th minute, but from that point on it was North End who dominated the game.

Speaking to iFollow PNE after the game, Alex said: “I thought we started a bit sloppy in probably the first ten, 15 minutes. Them hitting the post gave us a little bit of a scare.

“I thought we kicked into gear after that and I thought we posed a real threat. They were really aggressive in terms of how they played. They committed six players to our six players so all the space was in behind them.

“We worked on our movements in terms of getting in behind and that’s what two of the goals come from. The set play was also pleasing, something we worked on yesterday.

“It was a good performance. At the start of the second half we started a bit sloppy again, I thought we looked as if we took our foot off the gas which was frustrating. But again, we upped the pace, got a fourth goal, and then after that I thought we controlled the match.

“It’s pleasing and it’s always nice to win and nice to get through to the next round.”

The manager was particularly happy with the way the front four of Barkhuizen, Maguire, Harrop and Brad Potts set up, causing the Mansfield defence all sorts of problems.

Alex said: “Everybody’s spoke at length in terms of forward players, goals, creation and different things. I thought the lads that played today did well in that regard in terms of creating chances and obviously scoring goals.

“We’ve done a lot of work, we’ve been ready, and I just felt that the balance of today’s game was really suited to playing against the style that Mansfield have got and that proved to be the case.

“Mainly their aggression in terms of how they play a three, which means every time you drop, somebody comes with which leaves space in behind.

“The way we worked our goals and the way the ball stuck when it went up the top end of the pitch was pleasing.

“Against these teams, they can make it really difficult for you. I thought at times they were really quite aggressive and at set plays they looked dangerous. To get a clean sheet and score four and have some other opportunities within the game was good.”

Today’s cup tie was the first competitive game of the 2020/21 season, but PNE will now return to their pre-season schedule with three games in the coming week before the Championship opener in two weeks’ time.

Alex added: “This is a competitive game and we’ve got other lads who have served us very well over my time being here.

“We need to see where some of these lads are because they want to stake a claim, but they need to show what they can do and they need to make sure that when and if we need them to play, or if they’re going to play or deserve to play, that they’re ready to play.

“I think it’s important that we give some of these lads an opportunity to play and I thought today was an ideal opportunity to do so.

“We’ve had good variation in our games that we’ve got between now and the start of the season so that’s pleasing and we’re going to have a real tough week coming up with three Premier League teams coming up.

“We’ll still have to mix and match our squad a little bit to cover everybody in terms of minutes. I’m hopeful that we’ll be ready and we’ll be able to kick off the season in a good manner.”

 

They both talk the talk well!