At some point I’m going to have to stop describing games as ‘must win’ since we keep losing those games and nevertheless surviving, suggesting they’re not 'must win’ at all. Our game today against Preston North End wasn’t a ‘must win’ so much as a ‘nice to win’ since, even if we’d lost, we’d still have two more chances to avoid relegation. But of the three remaining games, this one looked the easiest to pick up points from.
Going into this, PNE had nothing to play for and also had a game midweek, whereas we had everything to play for and the advantage of a week’s rest. In addition, by the time we kicked off at 5.15pm, Huddersfield, currently in 22nd place, had lost 0-4 to Swansea. If Sheffield Wednesday (23rd) lose against Blackburn tomorrow, we’ll be six points above both teams, meaning that even if they both win the next two and we lose them, we’ll almost certainly still beat them on goal difference. So this win effectively means we’re safe. ‘Nice to win’ indeed.
Martí Cifuentes made two changes to the team he put out against Hull, replacing Morgan Fox with Kenneth Paal and Isaac Hayden with Jack Colback. That meant we lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation as follows: Asmir Begovic between the sticks; Jimmy Dunne, Steve Cook, Jake Clarke-Salter and Paal in the back line; Sam Field and Colback in front of them; Chris Willock, Lucas Andersen and Ilias Chair as the attacking trio; and Lyndon Dykes leading the line.
I had my doubts about that last choice. Dykes has been so poor all season, scoring just four league goals, I would have preferred Sinclair Armstrong, given that Michy Frey is still injured. But the Scotstralian came good, scoring our first goal in the 20th minute.
Up until then, the Lillywhites looked more likely to score, having created more chances. Our goal started with a long throw from Steve Cook on the left hand side. It was cleared, but only as far as Willock, who crossed it back in. The ball drifted goalwards, the keeper spilt it, but it fell kindly for Dykes who slotted it into the bottom left-hand corner.
After that, we looked comfortably in control for the remainder of the half. Willock tried to curl one in in the 30th minute that needed saving, Jimmy Dunne then headed it into the top right-hand corner – also needed saving – and we almost scored from the resulting corner. We got another chance in the 39th minute, when a mistake from the visitors allowed Chair to put Dykes in on goal, but he struck wide.
All told, a great 45 minutes for the hosts, with nine shots in total to their five, three of ours on target and just one of theirs. Our xG was 0.92 to the visitors’ 0.58.
We started the second half more confidently than the Whites and dominated for the first 20 minutes. But in spite of numerous chances, weren’t able to convert any of them.
Willock rolled a great ball in across goal in the 49th minute, but Dykes couldn’t get a foot to it. An Andersen corner in the 55th minute saw the ball land at Cook’s feet, but our best finisher in the box put it wide. Chair got a header on target in the 62nd minute and the keeper spilt it – again! – but Dykes couldn’t get there quickly enough to capitalise.
Andersen was replaced by Smyth in the 67th minute and he made an impact, as he usually does, but the second goal just wouldn’t come. The closest we came in the first half hour of the second half was a header on target from Field in the 74th minute. Their keeper did well to save it.
They came back into it in the last 15 minutes, prompting Cifuentes to substitute Morgan Fox for Paal in the 82nd minute. He then brought on Armstrong for Dykes and Hayden for Chair in the 91st minute, with just four minutes left to play. But we managed to hang on to our lead with some heroic defending in spite of a pretty relentless onslaught from the visitors.
That’s us safe then, surely? We’re now 18th with the magical 50 points — usually enough for survival in this league. True, the Owls could win tomorrow, but we’re also four points clear of Birmingham, thanks to their draw, so they’d need a win and a draw in their last two to catch us. The game ended with the crowd singing ‘The R’s are staying up, The R’s are staying up’ and — finally — I believe it.