Preston North End 2 - 1 Nottingham Forest

Coming from this neck of the woods obviously means that just about every Forest fixture I attend is an away game, usually involving a drive in excess of 200 miles round trip. Not surprisingly then, the home-from-home fixture comes as a welcome break, and one I've waited four years for. Preston North End, along with Burnley have been stuck in this league longer than any club without going up or down, and since our last visit to Deepdale one or two things have changed. The decrepit Pavillion Stand has been replaced by a shiny new version to align with the other three stands to give Deepdale an overall much smarter look and a more enclosed feel about it. Other changes included an innovative eco-friendly matchday programme at the special price of £2.00, so up to this point it felt good to be back.

Unfortunately not everything has changed for the better. The pies still taste of cardboard, attendance still hovers around a disappointing 13,000 (much the same as it was four years ago) despite capacity raised to over 20,000, the away fans are still crammed into one corner of the Shankly Kop, and Forest still cannot get a win here - the last one dating back to 1960 to make a winless record look even worse than at Molineux - and with similar failings to the last time we visited Deepdale.

After the robbery on Saturday by Preston's bitter rivals, picking up points was something of a priority although I cannot say I held out much hope given our miserable away record and Preston being very much the team in form since the start of the season. It did not take long for Preston to assert their authority on proceedings and for the first ten minutes I could only wince as our defence appeared to part like the Red Sea letting the dangerous combination of Jon Parkin and Darren Carter make their presence felt, going close twice in this period alone. With the number of goals we've shipped so far this season it was no surprise to see some changes, with Brecks brought in alongside Big Wes, with Wilson (in his first visit back to his former club) moved out to the right at the expense of Luke Chambers and the unusual sight of Chris Cohen playing deep out on the left in the continued absence of Jules. Unfortunately, with Preston looking far more assured in possession and Parkin quick to exploit the gaps in the middle it was obvious we looked stretched, and it looked like being a long night ahead.

Credit though to Forest who rode out the initial onslaught on the Town End (normally defended by PNE first half, I believe) and started to try catching PNE on the break, with Earnshaw predictably proving the biggest threat, and very narrowly missed scoring from a 30-yard free kick which had PNE 'keeper Lonergan well beaten. Unfortunately he was having to do practically all the legwork since Cole, making his first start for us, looked slow and repeatedly failed to keep up with the tempo. Having said that he did manage to create a half-chance for Earnshaw midway through the first half which at least gave us a hint of what he's capable of, but overall his contribution was well short of expectation and did not appear to be reading the game particularly well.

As the half wore on the game see-sawed with attacks at both ends. Ours were particularly effective down the right-hand channels with Martin and McCleary combining well. McCleary was particularly impressive and managed to get a few crosses in which ought to have been telling us something about putting players in the box and on the far post in particular. Needless to say the chances came to nothing. One or two moves found Earnshaw in the middle and we did go very close on more than one occasion. I'd say that given the number of chances both sides had the score could easily have been at least two goals each by the break. A very entertaining first half in the end, and texts from absent friends confirmed radio reports of Forest playing pretty well overall, despite allowing Preston's dangermen acres of space in just the areas to make you cringe, and it took some good tackling by Big Wes to dig us out of a hole.

Half time, and that's where it all started to unravel. Five minutes after the restart Preston took the lead in a similar manner to the way they took us apart last time we were here - from a corner. Our failings on the far post in attack had now migrated to our inability to cover same in defence, leaving Mawene a free header in acres of space. Bang!

Eight minutes later they were two up after we'd completely lost shape and started to give the ball away very cheaply, time after time around the half way line, with Moussi the main culprit. Preston surged forward in numbers and at pace and when Nicholson's cross found Neil Mellor (more like The Mellorphant Man given the way he later proceeded to throw his lardy frame about) heading towards the far post (again!) Smudge was already exposed. Painful, but you had to concede this was a very well-worked goal.

For the next few minutes we were visibly rocking as we struggled to string any passes together, and had started to resort to some aimless hoofing upfield, which looked as pointless as our tally was likely to be from this visit to Deepdale, especially since neither Cole nor the heavily-marked Earnshaw looked likely to be able to capitalise on the high ball (so why persist?).

It's very tempting to bemoan the lack of 'rub of the green' when things aren't going to plan (and in all fairness we've had one or two genuine claims in that department already this season) but shortly afterwards we were thrown a lifeline when Perchy started a move which ended in Lee Martin firing a shot towards goal and Mawene's desperate dive giving him the dubious distinction of scoring at both ends of the field - in the same half of course. Whoever this OG, or Mr Own Goal is appearing on our list of goalscorers, we'd better sign him up since he's already our second highest goalscorer this season.

The goal did galvanise Forest and we did subject the Town End to some sustained late pressure, although we were still losing the ball far too cheaply in midfield, either through sloppy passing or hoof 'n hope. The arrival of Tyson (to thunderous applause from the travelling fans) to replace the disappointing Cole helped stir things up a little, but Earnshaw then managed to emulate Tyson's big miss from Saturday when he blazed a chance over the bar. At the other end of the ground we all groaned in despair as everyone knows these are the kind of chances which could be the key to our survival this season.

And that was pretty much it, really. Story of our season so far? That's debatable because it's great when it works like it did against Watford, but three consecutive defeats is something we've not seen for a while now, and something we're going to have to get used to all over again unless we can shore up this leaky defence as well as make those chances count at the other end. On the plus side it cannot be denied we are playing some much more attractive football like we did during the Hart heyday, and what we wouldn't give to witness the kind of results his second season brought.

All in good time. Third from bottom tonight, but we mustn't panic. Sheffield Wednesday took a caning tonight and we're at their's in two weeks' time, and it is still early days. It's been a tough start to the season, but unlike the campaign of four years ago which saw us relegated, we have the psychological boost of that first win already under our belts (we waited more than ten games in 2004) and whilst it's still something to aim for, no-one's deluded enough to think we have the god-given right to promotion this season, so no pressure there!

And if one thing did allow me a wry smile was this weeks's 'Well he just would say that' spot, with Sir Alex Ferguson whingeing about John Terry's red card being overturned so making him available for the forthcoming United-Chelsea clash. Honestly, if our PPP's are going to learn from this kind of tutelage then is it any wonder we're getting so fed up of the so-called Premiership elite?

See you on Saturday.

Ref Watch: C Webster - Seem to recall a stinker of a performance some years ago at City Ground, but he did a pretty good job tonight.

Entertainment Value: Entertaining first half, once we'd settled down, and we improved after the pulling a goal back. 6.5/10

Atmosphere: The travelling fans were in good voice, as ever. Refreshing to hear some new songs, it was only a matter of time before the introduction of 'Robert Earnshaw is a Red....He hates D***y!' The home support only woke up when PNE scored, and whatever happened to the guy with the drum in the Shankly Kop, for so long the butt of travelling fans' chants?

Highlights: Good football during the first half, especially with McCleary and Martin giving us some much needed width.

Lowlights: Forest's apparent fear of covering the far post - at either end of the field; losing possession very cheaply was a recurring theme, and we appeared to lose shape straight after half time - with predictable results. Need to make those chances count, boys!

Stinker: Cole still looks some way from being match fit, and tonight looked cumbersome and simply not with it; Moussi was giving the ball away far too much.

Stormer: Garath McCleary