Preston North End saw their six-game unbeaten run come to an end on Saturday afternoon, as they lost 1-0 to Millwall at Deepdale.

With the hosts struggling to create many chances after the opening 15 minutes, Shaun Hutchinson's header with just over ten minutes of normal time remaining was enough to secure all three points for the visitors, dealing something of a blow to Preston's automatic promotion hopes.

Although Alex Neil's side remain sixth in the Championship table, they are now six points adrift of the second automatic promotion place in the division, with 13 games of the season remaining.

One aspect of the game that will have been particularly disappointing for Neil and his side was their inability to really go close to troubling the Millwall goal, something which may lead to questions about the performances of striker David Nugent.

The striker had been brought back into the starting lineup for the first time since New Year's Day in place of Sean Maguire against the Lions, Preston's sole attacking change for this game in which they struggled going forward.

But would any scrutiny on Nugent's performance against Millwall actually be justified?

Here, we put the spotlight on the striker's performance on Saturday, in order to find out.

Although Nugent had been brought into the side seemingly to add an extra element of physicality against a strong Millwall defence, the fact he was withdrawn with around 15 minutes of normal time remaining suggests he wasn't really able to do that, and the stats do seem to back that up.

With the 34-year-old taking just one shot - which failed to find the target - throughout his time on the pitch against Millwall, Nugent struggled to really pose a direct threat to Bart Bialkowski in the opposition goal, and it appears wasn't just in that respect that the attacker struggled.

Although an offensive duel success rate of 55% - which allowed him to beat his man six times on Saturday - is impressive, the fact that that materialised to just one touch in the Millwall area perhaps highlights why he was unable to really pose a problem for Bialkowski, demonstrating how well he was dealt with by the visiting defence on the whole.

Indeed, it seems as though the physicality it had been hoped Nugent would offer for Preston on Saturday simply was not enough against that Millwall defence.

Having won just three of his 11 aerial duels, it seems the striker struggled to impose himself on the Lions' backline in that sense, further restricting both his chances to take attempts on goal, or knock balls down for his teammates to take chances of their own.

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It should however be noted, that although he may not have been entirely successful, the number of duels Nugent entered into on Saturday does feel like an indicator of his determination to make an impact on the game.

One area where Nugent did seem to perform well against was his passing, with a success rate in that department of 81% suggesting he was a useful outlet for his side when looking to control possession within the game.

That accuracy with his supply was also enough to help create openings from which teammates were able to take shots on goal, although ultimately neither of those efforts would be enough to give Bialkowski much to think about.

As a result, it feels as though a side chasing the play-off places - and potentially even automatic promotion this season - are going to need a more direct and significant contribution from whoever is leading the line for them than Preston got from Nugent on Saturday, and you have to wonder just what that will do to his chances of another start for North End, anytime soon.