Sam Mantom red adds to Walsall's?? pain - match analysis and pictures

When Seb Stockbridge flashed a red card at Sam Mantom eight minutes from time, it added further woe for the Saddlers on another lost day in their play-off challenge.

The midfielder, arguably the best player in recent weeks during a five-game winless run, now faces three matches on the sidelines. Cruelly for a player born and raised in the Black Country, that would also include Saturday'??s derby with Wolves.

It was a decision which looked harsh at first glance and, unsurprisingly, there was immediately talk of an appeal. Boss Dean Smith felt the challenge on Preston'??s Joe Garner was fair, as did Mantom'??s team-mates. But they also know there is no exact science to appeals. Smith will spend most of today keeping his fingers crossed.

Mantom and defender Paul Downing, part of an emerging young spine in this Walsall team, are two of the main reasons to be excited for the years ahead. But on Saturday their respective fates encapsulated the Saddlers'?? struggles of late.

Centre-back Downing, normally so assured and confident, looked ponderous in the seconds before he scored a calamitous own goal which handed the hosts a third-minute lead. Mantom'??s late dismissal further fuelled the notion everything is going against Smith'??s side at the worst possible time.

Until then he had been the visitors'?? star player, wiping out Downing'??s error almost immediately with an equaliser which owed much to his sheer bloody mindedness, as he furiously followed up his own initial shot to beat keeper Declan Rudd from 18 yards.

It was Preston who would emerge victorious courtesy of Bailey Wright'??s goal just before the half-hour mark. You could make a case the Saddlers just about deserved a point, and they nearly snatched one in stoppage time when Rudd brilliantly tipped over substitute James Baxendale'??s long-range effort.

But that was his first serious save of the second half and those Saddlers fans who made the trip to Deepdale were presented with the familiar sight of their team enjoying plenty of possession but lacking any kind of cutting edge.

Preston, on the other hand, did have chances and Richard O'??Donnell had one of his busier days between the sticks this season. At one stage early in the second half he seemed to be locked in a personal battle with home forward Craig Davies.

Peterborough'??s 1-0 defeat at Crawley means on paper there was no great damage done to the Saddlers'?? play-off hopes, even though they slipped to eighth behind Swindon on goal difference. Nor is there any shame in losing at Preston, a side still harbouring genuine hopes of automatic promotion.

But psychologically a third defeat in five games will have its effects. Smith'??s side head to Northampton to face Coventry on Wednesday with the pressure very much on. Certainly, they need some upward momentum before Saturday,??s visit of the rampant neighbours.

Talk from the dressing room would suggest the Saddlers still believe they can get back in the race but actions speak louder than words and?? Mantom and a few others aside, they do not look a confident team at the moment.

Downing?'s error was an isolated incident but the performance of the whole defence, which had been among the meanest in the division, has been of some concern lately.

Partly it is down to the fact skipper Andy Butler, a hugely influential figure, is experiencing a dip in his own usually imperious form. While the captain made some notable blocks and clearances, he lost the overall aerial battle against Davies and Garner.

They are also missing the consistency of Andy Taylor at left-back. Mal Benning has a bright future ahead of him but this was another game on the learning curve as he was bypassed too easily, too often by Chris Humphrey.

Up front there was little to cheer either. Febian Brandy had probably his worst day since returning to the Banks'??s on loan, Milan Lalkovic played in fits and starts while Craig Westcarr, for all his efforts, had another game where things just didn'??t come off.

Not for the first time during the bad run, the Saddlers were guilty of a slow start. There seemed no danger as Downing picked up the ball facing his own goal. But the 22-year-old seemed to hesitate before playing the back pass to O'??Donnell and ended up firing it past his keeper, who could not recover to claw the ball away before it crossed the line.

The error was recovered immediately by Mantom, who pounced on a mistake by Preston'??s Tom Clarke and fired past Rudd at the second attempt.

The visitors looked bright and Westcarr forced Rudd into a save, while Nicky Featherstone volleyed wide.

But Preston looked more clinical and O'??Donnell had already kept out a Garner header, before Wright did beat him, getting ahead of the defenders to nod home Paul Gallagher'??s free-kick.

Featherstone poked a shot inches wide after great work with Mantom but, in chances terms, the second half belonged to the hosts, as O'??Donnell denied Davies with his legs.

But they couldn'??t finish the Saddlers off and almost paid the price. Baxendale thought he had levelled only to see Rudd show off his reflexes, while substitute Michael Ngoo was millimetres away from converting a Westcarr cross.

He wasn'??t quite in the right place at the right time.

Neither, at present, are the Saddlers.