Lancashire

Andy Bayes
BBC Radio Lancashire sport editor

Preston's result at Watford was a case of putting the point in the bag and heading back north relatively satisfied.

Everyone who was at the match will probably watch a better spectacle this season, but it is the sort of result that if you are serious about a play-off push, a point at Vicarage Road is certainly not the end of the world.

It is probably a point gained rather than two dropped.

North End's starting XI showed three changes. Jordan Thompson made his full debut, while Jamal Lewis and Daniel Jebbison returned to the team. Both Lewis and Jebbison are former Hornets loanees; it always makes sense to sling them in to see if it gets the desired effect.

Jebbison has already inflicted defeat on another of his former clubs, Sheffield United, this season with a winning goal and it could have been the same again. He produced the coolest of finishes after being played through by Lewis Dobbin to open the scoring. It was the perfect response to the boo boys in the home stands for the Canada international.

Following the opener, North End were the better side for a 15-minute spell and it looked like they might double the advantage on a couple of occasions.

Alfie Devine was a threat in the first half, popping up in some great positions. He fired over and Stefan Thordarson was not far away from his first of the season.

But, with a few minutes to go to the interval, they got loose in possession. The ball was turned over far too often and an equaliser on the stroke of half-time had been coming. A scruffy goal was conceded in stoppage time, a similar time to conceding to Blackburn Rovers on Friday.

Into the second half and skipper for the night Liam Lindsay brought the best from Hornets keeper Nathan Baxter as he tipped a header onto the post, but the majority of the questions were coming from the home side.

It is important to remember that Paul Heckingbottom's side had eight subs for the game, with two of them being goalkeepers.

Injuries to seven first-team players, as well as the club captain serving a one-match ban and the leading scorer being banned until after Christmas, would be a testing situation for pretty much all clubs at second-tier level.

Huge credit to the travelling fans for braving the 400-mile round trip on a Tuesday evening to cheer on their team. It was not a classic, but it was a really decent point against a team who had won four out of their previous five at home.

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Image source, Getty Images

The temptation is always to stick with sexy big sides each week but I was saddened for Burnley at the weekend. They should have had two penalties against Chelsea. The first was bizarre when Trevoh Chalobah, not concentrating, casually handled the ball after the keeper Robert Sanchez passed a goal kick to him inside the penalty box. The referee ordered a re-take. Really?

Then from a corner kick Benoit Badiashile was pushing Burnley's Maxime Esteve off the field while looking in precisely the opposite direction of the ball, just like an NFL linebacker might do. Instead of waiting for the corner to come in and award an obvious penalty, the referee stopped play and booked Badiashile. Call me old fashioned but I reckon Burnley would have preferred a penalty and it is the referee's job to see these incidents in play, not to stop them occurring beforehand.

What made me laugh out loud was Badiashile looking shocked at getting a card, like you honestly think that sort of play is allowed in Association Football?

Blue may well be my colour in England, but even I blushed on Burnley's behalf.

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Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom has critiqued his side for not scoring more goals prior to Watford's equaliser in their 1-1 draw on Tuesday.

Both sides had an abundance of scoring opportunities throughout the match but only Preston's Daniel Jebbison and Watford's Mamadou Doumbia were able to find the net.

"That was a good away performance. This is a dangerous place to come with the talent they have and they are a lot more dangerous at home than away so we are really pleased with the performance," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"In spells we were very good with the ball. But we managed to defend our box well and always managed to carry a threat going the other way.

"We felt we could come and have the ball. They had the best chance on the counter. But then we became more of a threat in hurting them. Probably the disappointing thing was we were only 1-0 up when they got the equaliser.

"We could easily have nicked that. We could have been a couple of goals up when they got that equaliser."

Natalie Bromley
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Something has happened to Burnley over the past couple of weeks. We have turned into a very passive side with no real intent to win a game.

This was so obvious against Chelsea. When we don't have the ball, we lack the intensity and drive to get in the opposition's faces and win the ball back. We just allow the play to continue and try to defend the attack that the other side are building.

I have seen so many comments about a poor Chelsea performance and how they were there for the taking. I'm not sure that's true. I just don't think they ever needed to get out of first gear. Why risk injury and energy when the opposition serves you up a training game?

I hate to say this, but Sunderland got a result against Arsenal because they did just that. They were aggressive and got in Arsenal's faces, even as the game was in the dying seconds. We don't do that. And that is disappointing considering just how much further ahead of Sunderland we were last year.

Scott Parker is a naturally cautious manager. We know that, but he has to step out of his comfort zone and fire his players up - otherwise we're just waving the white flag and whimpering back down to the Championship. We have the talent, we just don't have the drive at the moment.

It was frustrating to watch us try to keep the game close when we went 1-0 down.

Parker could, and should, have used the first Chelsea goal to go for it. I understand wanting to protect goal difference, but you can reassess if you leave yourself open and start conceding two or three. To stick to the scared and timid strategy once you're a goal down is poor, in my opinion.

I ask Parker this question: what is your side's identity? What does the class of 2026 want to be known for? If you don't know the answer to that question, you have got work to do.

Find more from Natalie Bromley at No Nay Never podcast, external