Which game were you watching?

Albion blogger Jarrod Hill wonders which game were you watching after differing opinions of a last point before the international break.

I must admit that having read a number of different match reports within the local media over the weekend and yesterday, I have come to the conclusion that there were two Preston versus West Brom games played on Saturday. The first one, watched by myself and a number of fans, then the other watched by match reporters.

I am gutted I did not watch the latter, apparently we played fluid entertaining football creating chance after chance that on another day we would have run out easy winners. I even read one report that said Gianni Zuiverloon was back to his best and that we look more threatening playing a 4-5-1 formation.

The game I watched had goalless draw written all over it after the first twenty minutes. Zuiverloon produced yet another lethargic and error-ridden performance, which has got most fans scratching their heads. The only players who I thought played well were - no surprise here - Jonas Olsson, Gonzalo Jara and Graham Dorrans.

Jara looks to be a very calm and composed player, once he adapts to the speed and ferocity of the Championship I can see him becoming an important part of our first team. He obviously likes a tackle, but what has surprised me is his quality on the ball and his range of passing.

Young Dorrans is developing a real reputation for his silky play but, although he played well, I am not convinced he is best suited to the second striker role but - when when I think about it - he could be the best we have to fill that role, but we cannot the confuse the two as being the same thing.

Maybe I am looking at this all wrong, maybe the experts and reporters have got it right, Preston is a tough place to go and get a result. Maybe head coach Roberto Di Matteo was right to go there with a game plan that meant if cannot win the game, we wont lose the game?

But while watching the game I felt that the Lilywhites were there for the taking and didn't impress me at all. My overriding feeling was one of frustration, we had plenty of possession but lacked that clinical finish, that quality final ball and - at times - energy.

But then having read an interview with Gianni Zuiverloon yesterday, he mentioned that he was feeling the effects of playing two games a week and he hinted he wasn't the only one. I mentioned yesterday the fact that we have a number of players who haven't played in the Championship before, and the amount of games is just one of the things they have to get used to.

One player we do have who is acclimatised to this division is Filipe Teixeira, yet he seems to have been completely discarded by the new management. Having seen a handful of pre-season games, he looked to be in good form and relishing the opportunity to impress a new manager.

We as fans are obviously not privy to the full story, but from what I have seen so far, I would rather see 'Tex' on the right hand side of midfield than Reuben Reid.

Some of you have felt I have been a little harsh on young Reuben, but the fact is I feel sorry for the lad. We will end up judging him as a player from what we see of him in that position, whereas as a striker he could be just what we need.

Reid has shown that he has pace and an eagerness to run at defenders, but when played out wide he looks lost. His positional sense is not only lacking a threat going forward, but also offers little defensively. When played in front of the out of form Zuiverloon, the right hand side looks weak.

Yet his strengths could be just what we need up front, and I would prefer to see him in that role coming on from the bench.

The two-week break for once has come at a good time for us, it allows us to give some of our players with niggling injuries a bit of a rest, and players who are feeling a little jaded a chance to put their feet up, such as Zuiverloon.

Talking of injuries, it is worrying the amount of time James Morrison has been out with what was an infected blister, the lack of information regarding his recovery is also concerning. Arguably our best attacking player, his return will be a huge boost to us and I hope it is sooner rather than later.

Eleven games in and we find ourselves second in the table, more importantly I haven't seen anything to be afraid of in this leagu.

The only thing that seems capable of beating us, is ourselves.