Preston's home form has been abysmal and so it was no surprise to see yet another poor performance. The home win on Saturday simply papered over many cracks and questions are now seriously being asked over the direction of this club under Alex Neil.
North End were never in this game. Browne and Johnson failed to make any impact in midfield. They didn't get a foot on the ball which meant the front three were isolated and the team was disjointed.
The home side were over run. Blackburn had a couple of chances in the first half and were on top but only took the lead just before the break on the counter.
Preston had a rare site of Blackburn's goal. Johnson has been poor this season and his shot didn't trouble the visiting goal. Blackburn broke and Armstrong beat Rafferty in a foot race. The defender was caught short at Rotherham recently and he was found wanting here as he pulled down Armstrong in the box with no attempt to play the ball.
A penalty was awarded and Rafferty was rightly sent off. Armstrong scored and Blackburn were in complete control. Preston were making their visitors look like a top of the table side.
Potts came on at half time as North End went three at the back. He had very little impact on the game and soon Blackburn were two up as the Preston back three were all over the place allowing Brereton in to slide past Rudd.
Salt was rubbed in the wounds when ex-Preston youngster came off the bench to slot home into an emplty net to hand Preston a comprehensive defeat.
Preston have now lost all but one home league game this season. They face two tough away games at high flying Watford and Bournemouth as the games come thick and fast.
Alex Neil looks to have lost motivation and several of his players appear to be running down their contracts as performances this season are well below par. There seems no urgency to change style or tactics and at present the players are simply not performing to a level anywhere near good enough.
It will be interesting to see how things develop over the next few weeks as Preston could slip further down the table if they fail to improve.