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Yes, but it won’t make it any less frustrating when we come to reflect after the official close in May.

It was clear from the off that the visitors had arrived with the mindset that not losing to a team only five points below them, and with a game in hand, was more important than winning it.

Time wasting in the first half confirmed this fan’s suspicions that leaving Deepdale with the five-point gap intact suited the Canaries, along with the chance of a goal on the counter-attack, and they did this effectively on the day.

Preston North End's Jordan Storey battles for possession with Norwich City's Josh Sargent

In terms of the game itself, a rather bad-tempered affair showed both sets of players were feeling the pressure and with neither side dominating. The visitors tried to stick to their usual passing out from the back and Preston stuck to their disruptive and more direct style, resulting in stalemate and not a match for the purist.

However, this meant we were always in it and would only need a moment to break the deadlock. This nearly happened on the stroke of half-time when a good Jack Whatmough header from a free-kick smashed against the crossbar.

The second half stayed pretty much the same and with time running out Ryan Lowe made the bold decision to play with four strikers on the pitch for the final 10 minutes or so.

Understandable in the sense of ‘nothing to lose’ with only a few moments left to continue the season, but utterly baffling in terms of moving one of the strikers, Milutin Osmajic, to the right wing-back position to replace the effective Duane Holmes and in sending on veteran Ched Evans after a long lay-off as the middle prong up top.

It was disjointed and simply didn’t work and allowed Norwich the opportunity to break through and score that winning late goal.

In reality it was always an outside chance to make the play-offs with our late run.

Surely, only further improvements to the squad in the close season will provide enough of a platform for that push next time around?

Tim Mercer's PNE Fans' Panel verdict: In reality it was always an outside chance to make the play-offs with our late run