Preston North End's season got underway on Saturday afternoon when they made the short trip to North West neighbours Wigan Athletic, and they came away with a goalless draw.

The Lilywhites made some moves in the transfer market in the days prior to their curtain-raiser at the DW Stadium, with both Troy Parrott and Alvaro Fernandez joining on loan from Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United respectively.

Both ended up making their competitive debuts, but in the end, the Lilywhites had to settle for a point in a game where both sides had chances to come out on top.

 

 

 

 

Let's look at THREE things we learnt from a North End perspective following their opening day stalemate.

Right wing-back urgently needed

Ryan Lowe has been searching for a new right wing-back all summer as competition to Brad Potts, and failure to land one right now has seen the transfer-listed Matthew Olosunde work his way back into the fold.

With the American injured once again though, it was Potts who started against the Latics, but his performance only proved why Lowe is desperate to add a fresh face on the right flank.

Lowe wants someone with pace and attacking intent in that role, but Potts didn't show any of that this weekend and his days could be numbered.

Cyrus Christie was linked earlier in the summer, but the free agent still doesn't have a club despite North End being in talks with the Republic of Ireland international back in June.

Midfield places should be up for grabs

We saw last season under Lowe's management that his preferred midfield three is Ben Whiteman sitting at the base, with Alan Browne and Daniel Johnson playing in advance.

However, the performances of both Browne and Johnson at the DW Stadium will call into question their places in the starting line-up for the visit of Hull City to Deepdale next weekend.

Even though he didn't make it off the bench against Wigan, Northern Irish midfielder Ali McCann must be considered to play from the beginning against the Tigers - he hasn't really been able to show what he's capable of in the engine room under Lowe as for the most part, he's featured as a wing-back.

The performances of the middle men this weekend though should give Lowe some food for thought going into next Saturday, anyhow.

Freddie Woodman already proving his worth

North End had huge gloves to fill when Daniel Iversen's loan spell last season ended, with the expectation that he wasn't going to return to Deepdale once again.

PNE though moved quickly to secure the permanent services of Newcastle United stopper Freddie Woodman - a fine move indeed considering he won the Championship Golden Glove in 2020-21 on loan at Swansea City.

And whilst he wasn't tested too much on his full debut for the Lilywhites, Woodman was solid with dealing at set pieces, stopped what he needed to from Wigan attacks and crucially was comfortable with the ball at his feet.

It's early days, but it looks as though PNE have a good one in-between the sticks.