With the injury list growing ever longer Holloway selected the most attacking team I have ever seen from him. Gone was his usual defensive player in the middle of the park as he picked a midfield that was only going to go one way, forward. Royce was in goal behind Bignot, Evatt, Shittu and Dyer. The midfield four were Ainsworth, Langley, Rowlands and Cook with Baidoo handed his first start of the season alongside Gallen.

Things seemed to start fairly brightly for Rangers with Cook firing in a shot that was easily fielded by Carlo Nash in the Preston goal. He also had the second shot on target, deflected effort that bobbled at the keeper. He seemed to make a bit of a meal of it and had to be alert to grab the ball before Baidoo came sniffing.

Rangers then had a goal disallowed for what seemed to be handball. Gallen picked the ball up wide on the left and cut inside before bending an effort at goal. Baidoo looked to have deflected the ball home and the lino seemed happy with it. Our appointed referee for the season Dermot Gallagher thought otherwise though with Pigbag already pumping out of the pa.

To this point Preston had done absolutely chuff all apart from look for the pace of Patrick Agyemang up top. He was cleverly pulling away onto Evatt at every opportunity to expose his startling lack of pace. Evatt and Shittu seemed to be making a meal of even the most routine defensive work and this was causing the odd palpitation.

Baidoo almost scored when a sweeping move saw him played in. Rangers won the ball on the edge of their own box and for once in the game, Rowlands and Langley linked well and the ball was fed wide to Cook. He carried it forward and slipped a ball in for Baidoo to strike first time. His crisp left footed effort was turned behind by Nash.

Half time came and Rangers had been the better side without ever really having Preston rattled. It was better to this point than the Plymouth farce at the weekend but that was mainly due to Preston not being all that fussed about attacking us. If they had they would have found the dodgy looking back four in generous mood.

If we could make some more of the possession we were having and get something resembling half decent service in to Gallen and Baidoo then we would certainly have a chance of getting something from the game. Instead the second half began with no cohesion in the passing and a seriously slack attitude all round.

Nothing had happened until Billy Davies decided to throw on David Nugent after 58 minutes. Much as Baidoo had done at Plymouth on Saturday, Nugent scored with his first touch of the ball. A hopeful ball down the right was hopelessly misjudged by Dyer and Agyemang had all the time in the world to centre the ball. Nugent had moved away from Evatt and Shittu’s attentions and slammed the ball into the roof of the net.

Gallagher might as well have blown the whistle at this point as the spineless nature of the team came to the fore. It was the tenth time this season that we have gone behind in a game. In the previous nine games (eight in the league and one in the cup) we had managed to salvage one point. Nothing on show suggested that this would be the turning point of that terrible stat.

Holloway made three changes in quick succession as he tried to get his team to do something. Moore, Santos and Bean were thrown on in place of Cook, Baidoo and Ainsworth. They started aiming it for Georges and as usual he battled to try and get something in a position that seems wholly alien to him.

Santos crashed a shot over the bar with his left foot. That was Rangers second effort of the half and followed an earlier Ainsworth shot that Nash saved with the greatest of ease. Then with five minutes left more terrible defending gifted Preston a second goal.

The R’s defence were guilty of buggering about with the ball and Callum Davidson pounced. The man who once had his face rearranged by Dennis Wise burst clear and fired past the exposed Royce to seal the points.

This was yet another bad performance and can be added to the catalogue alongside those at Coventry, Northampton, Watford and Plymouth. Once again we have heard the manager come out and say that we did not deserve to be beaten and that we should have drawn the game. Get real man! We got exactly what a lacklustre and gutless display deserved, sweet f a.

The back four were all over the place in the face of very little attacking wise from Preston. Shittu and Evatt were hesitant all night, Bignot gave the ball away for fun and Dyer’s positional play was poor. In midfield Ainsworth did nothing, Cook, a couple of shots aside did similar. Langley and Rowlands looked like a poor pairing with neither putting their foot in enough nor picking the passes they were asked to. Rowlands also looked like a man who was half fit.

Up front Gallen and Baidoo tried to work with the terrible service they were getting. It must be so frustrating to know that almost every ball you get will be whistling round your ear holes. Gallen seemed to turn his frustrations on the crowd at one point as they expressed their exasperation with yet more poor play. Perhaps the captain’s attentions would be better focused on his players.

This team just does not seem to have any heart, any fight or any leadership. When things are going badly you need people to be brave and stand up to be counted. We don’t seem to have those people at the moment. If that is not coming from the players on the pitch it needs to come from the bench and I see little sign of that at the moment. If we go behind we lose, it is a damning fact but one that does not lie. We are too easy to role over if teams can get ahead of us and teams are able to get ahead of us very easily at the moment.

If there is money to spend in January, which sounds as though it might be the case then the board are not going to throw it into a team that are all over the shop. Hull City visit us on Saturday with no wins in five and three consecutive away defeats to their name. If they beat us then I think we might be singing something other than Holloway’s Blue and White Army at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday week.

simon@qprnet.com

Shabazz Baidoo. He tried hard.