Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom has opened up on his tactical set-up that saw his side draw with Middlesbrough on Saturday.
It was a frustrating day at the office for Michael Carrick’s side as Boro were held to a 1-1 draw.
Middlesbrough took the lead in the 16th minute courtesy of Tommy Conway and had dominated the proceedings before conceding an equaliser two minutes before half time.
The second half proved to be a difficult watch as the away side limited Carrick’s men to limited chances and left the Riverside Stadium with a hard-fought point on the road.
Preston boss names the one Middlesbrough player he asked his side to man-mark
Coming into the game, there was only one target that Heckingbottom had his mind on throughout the game.
Finn Azaz currently leads the way in the Championship for having the most shots and shots on target, as well as the most chances created in the second tier.
Heckingbottom identified Azaz as the problem target and decided to deploy Brad Potts in a role that would see him man-mark for the left-winger for the entirety of the game.
“That is where they are dangerous. They try and outnumber you in the middle of the park and that is where they are very, very good. So, I thought it helped us deal with them, but then us with the ball – when Pottsy found himself wide, because Sam [Greenwood] had come inside, in that transition Azaz is free,” he explained, via Teeside Live.
“That’s why we defended as we did. The other way is to sit back really deep and block the pitch up. But I just don’t like doing that. I’d rather we have bodies in, knowing you can get exploited. Their goal comes from that, so we can still do better.”
Michael Carrick’s dressing room message to Middlesbrough players after Preston draw
While Carrick wanted to focus largely on the positives, the Boro boss pulled no punches about where his side needed improvement and cited the lack of quality in the final third as their biggest weakness.
“So there were a lot of good things in there that, over time, we feel will benefit us. But again, and I’ve just said this to the boys in there, it’s killing teams off when we’ve got them [that we have to be better at],” Carrick said. “We’re 1-0 up, we’ve got them on the back foot, we’ve got to take that next step and push for the next goal and be really positive.
“The game drifted a little bit for five or ten minutes and they grab their goal. The game completely changes second half when they’ve got something to hold on to. Towards the end, when teams are there going man for man and are trying to stop us, we’ve got to find ways of breaking them down.
“I thought largely we tried – there was a lot of good attitude and application, but we just couldn’t find that killer pass at the end.”