Ryan Lowe admits his 'brand' of football has had to change at Preston North End

Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe admits he's had to come away from the 'brand' of football he initially hoped to deliver at Deepdale.

When the Lilywhites lured Lowe to North End in December 2021 - to succeed Frankie McAvoy - the ex-Plymouth Argyle boss discussed attacking with six players, defending with four and bringing entertaining football to PNE. Last campaign, Preston were the fourth lowest scorers in the Championship and North End started this season by adopting a more direct approach.

Having last time out suffered a 1-5 loss to Watford - which made it eight defeats in 14 for eighth placed PNE - Lowe is still enduring a tough period of his tenure. He was asked about the team's identity in his latest press conference and spoke about having to change some of his ideas.

"Yeah, we've changed a bit and tweaked a bit," said Lowe. "I haven't gone back to it and I probably won't just yet, until I reflect on it. But, if you look at some of the games last season when we were trying to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Sheffield United, Middlesbrough and other teams - we got undone didn't we? They were just better than us. And maybe we had too much of a risk element in our half, rather than their half. So, earlier on in the season we were obviously solid and hard to beat. We had two banks if you like: playing with two fours, two tens and we were resolute.

"We were not creating many chances, but winning games of football. And our xG, which nobody mentions, we were clinical in our chances. So, if you are clinical in your chances, then you will win games no matter what your xG is. Nobody seems to mention that these days, they just look at the negative side of things. But, if you look at how clinical we were, we were the best in the division. So, the identity is when you've got players in your team who can get hold of the ball from back to front, players who can run you up the pitch and then you can build.

"It is important you utilise it and that's what we've found a formula to do. We utilise playing in their half rather than playing too many passes in our half, because sometimes it can be risky and not a lot of people like it. You want the ball at the top end of the pitch and then you play from there, which is certainly what we've changed a little bit. My metrics, as a manager over the years, have been expansive, attacking football and on the front foot - which we are, but in a different way. Plenty of crosses, chances, eight's runs, eight's shots, pull backs - everything about it.

"But, ultimately you have to adapt anyway, because teams notice that and see that. This season, we've probably surprised a couple of teams and gone on and won, because they weren't expecting what we were going to give them. It will be the same again. If it has to flip round again, whether that be over the Christmas period where it'll be tight, or in January with more coaching sessions for the lads, of course - we are always looking to be different. I think you've got to have that in your armour, definitely.

"The training methods are the same. The lads train at the right intensity, cover the right distance and earlier on in the week we'll start the build up of what Swansea looks like. We get the message into them, have the unit meetings with the lads, have the out-of-possession two days before and in-possession a day before. So, they are getting the information and the game plans are all there, suited for them - especially on Thursday and Friday. I think it's massively important we keep that. But, it obviously tweaks and changes depending on what formation you are playing against, who their threats are or what their weaknesses are.

"It is not just rolling the players out. I said to one of the players the other day in a meeting: 'What would you do if we just turned in every day and did possession and small sided games?' He went: 'We'd look at you as if to say 'what's going on here?' I said that a lot of teams do that and just turn up. And I said 'what would you do if we gave you the team an hour and 15 minutes before on a Saturday or Tuesday?'. He said 'well you can't do that, can you?' No, you can't, but a lot of people do that. And we wouldn't do that. We have to make sure we plan and prepare and when we plan and prepare we do that all the time."

Lowe was also quizzed on his side's poor underlying data this season, with a lot of the metrics towards the bottom of the league when compared. The Liverpudlian is aware of them but not overly concerned, aside from the defensive woes. Preston have conceded 32 goals in 14 games, which is something Lowe knows must improve.

"Well the goals, obviously," said Lowe. "Conceding goals. When you go from last season's clean sheets and even this season when we were low. What I did say, open and honestly, was the worry of conceding two, three and four because it's not nice is it? You want to keep the back door shut as much as you can. I am always for outscoring teams, but in the Championship it is hard to do that - especially when you go 3-1 down and 4-1 down.

"There's no way back is there? Teams manage the game and see the game out, so that has been a bit of a concern. But, what I will say is that the goalkeepers and defenders have been excellent in doing that, so the quicker we get back to basics - winning first contacts, making blocks on the edge of the box - then the better we'll be. So yeah, that is a worry but is stuff we'll continue to work on."