It’s yet another defeat for Preston North End as they fell to a 4-1 defeat to Wrexham at the Racecourse with Ben Whiteman scoring against his old club.

Goals from Joe Worrall, Ben Whiteman, Sam Smith, and Kieffer Moore decimated the Lancashire side despite an Alfie Devine equaliser in five minutes after the opener.

It’s now three defeats in a row for Graham Alexander, who has got off to the worst possible start in his dream job, but the bad form was stemmed way before his arrival.

North End are not rooted to the bottom of the league with only one win and one draw all season, sitting five points from safety this early in the season.

While that is not a huge gap, it is a concerning gap in a relatively embryonic table, with many already tipping the Lancashire side for relegation.

We are still so far away from the conclusion of the league, but the signs are glaringly obvious that this may well be the season that sees Preston go back down to League One after over 10 years in the Championship.

Key Moments

It was a slow start to the season with neither side looking like they were going to break the deadlock, however it would take 31 minutes for the home side to take the lead and put Preston on the back foot.

After putting on insurmountable pressure of Alexander’s men, Danny Imray collected the ball on the right wing and crossed it for Worrall to head home, with his header bouncing off the ground and sneaking past Daniel Iversen.

Andrija Vukcevic should’ve done a lot better to close the wing-back down, someone who is known for possessing great crosses, making this yet another self-inflicted goal conceded.

Preston, however, showed more character than they did in their midweek defeat to Birmingham, as the attackers pressed the Wrexham midfield and won the ball, immediately looking to make something happen.

Johnny Kenny takes a shit, but deflects into the path of Alfie Devine, who puts it into the bottom left corner past Anthony Patterson, claiming his first goal of the season as he ran over to the fans to celebrate.

It was a nice warming moment, but it would mean nothing in the end as the capitulation would begin six minutes later.

In probably the most predictable outcome, Ben Whiteman got on the end of a failed clearance and slotted the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box, taking in all of the love as Iversen watched it roll past him.

Looking smug around his teammates, the former captain of the club would blow a kiss towards the away fans in an attempt to give some back after facing jeers all game.

Whiteman would have the game of his life against North End, controlling and dictating everything for Parkinson’s men in what felt like he was playing without any weight on his shoulders.

Getting one over on his old teammates and fans was exactly the one thing he needed, after facing so much criticism for his conduct in order to make the move happen.

You could tell this got to the Preston players, as after the second began, it was all Wrexham.

Disorganisation from a corner allowed Sam Smith to head the ball into the net to allow the Welsh side to claim their third goal, before Kieffer Moore took advantage of more poor marking, in the 63rd minute.

When the ball was played from the free kick, the Wrexham players lost their markers as if they weren’t there, with Offiah letting Moore got on the end of the ball to guide it into the bottom corner.

Key Performances

Let’s get the obvious one out of the way – Ben Whiteman was absolutely incredible and rolled it back with a great display of dictation and leadership.

Created the joint-most chances in the match with three, completed the most passes with 49, and scoring an important goal to send Wrexham into the lead and never look back.

Joe Worrall scored and put in an incredible defensive shift to give the home side the opener and keep Preston out of the other end. He also got himself an assist for Kieffer Moore’s insurance goal.

Jordan Storey was beaten far too easily in the air and on the ground in one of the worst defensive displays of the season – and there’s been plenty.

Andrija Vukcevic should have done so much better to close down his men for the first two goals, seemingly letting Danny Imray to cross the ball and create chances.

Conclusion

Preston have now made it three defeats in a row for their new manager, reinforcing their worst start to a season since 1962.

Nine defeats and it’s not even November, sitting five points from Norwich in 21st, and looking a million miles away from even looking like a capable mid table side.

Defensively awful, attacking force is blunt, and the mentality of the squad is utterly laughable – the reaction to Whiteman’s celebration spoke volumes.

No fight, no spark, and a lack of characters in the dressing room is going to lead to the demise of the football club, with no end in sight for this poor run of form.

Preparation for League One may as well begin very soon – January can’t come quick enough as some of these players need to be massively improved upon if the Lilywhites want to stand any chance of getting themselves out of this mess.