Preston North End 0-1 Lincoln City Match Report and Player Ratings

Another dismal day for PNE

Preston suffered defeat once again at the hands of newly promoted Lincoln City at Deepdale.

The Imps won it through a late Freddie Draper winner which leaves manager Paul Heckingbottom on borrowed time in the North End dugout.

It will be interesting to see if the club sticks with him going into an upcoming international break.

First Half

The vistors lined up in their 3-4-3 formation whilst North End changed it up and lined up with a 3-5-2. With Stanley Mills and Andrija Vukcevic holding the width.

It was a fairly cagey opening first 15 minutes with both teams adopting a relatively cautious approach, which is to be expected with the current league positions of both outfits.

The first chance fell the way of Preston, when recent recruit Johnny Kenny found himself in the right area, but blazed his effort over the crossbar.

It would look as if it would be the Irishman would play a huge role if North End were to find an opener.

Alfie Devine was having a particularly impressive game in a more natural midfield position for him, a change from playing out wide which he has been doing in recent weeks.

Lincoln did start to find their footing in the match and started to maintain a bit more possession, imposing more of a threat on the Preston backline.

Level at the break. ⏸️#pnefc pic.twitter.com/2qTZhlhUqO

— Preston North End FC (@pnefc) September 12, 2026

Second half

For all of North End's possession, it would be Lincoln who came close to taking the lead, forcing a smart save out of Daniel Iversen, who had been untroubled leading up to this chance.

It was quite ridiculous how many corners Paul Heckingbottom's side had without a threat and they seriously need to improve this side of their game.

Around the 60 minute mark, the game started to open up slightly with Lincoln finding themselves drifting into the Lilywhites penalty area on more occasions.

Preston really needed to shake things up and they did eventually with Delano Burgzorg, Leo Leroy and Jusef Erabi who would enter proceedings.

With Preston's 15th corner of the game. Yes, you read that right, Jordan Storey got on the end of it and saw his prodded effort cleared off the line which came so close to giving his side the lead.

North End were huffing and puffing looking for a winner, Lincoln did still pose a threat on the break and the Lilywhites would need to be aware of this.

Chiedozie Ogbene would be the next to have an effort on goal trying to find a smash and grab goal.

And they would find that goal. A long throw in was sent in from the left and Freddie Draper was there to flick it in past Iversen, with what was a real sucker punch for North End.

It just looked like it was going to be another one of those days for PNE.

With a loss here the fans are certainly going to be turning on Paul Heckingbottom.

And it seems they have.

Preston North End Football Club have today taken the decision to part company with Paul Heckingbottom as First Team Football Manager.

Football is a results business and despite significant investment in the playing squad since Paul joined, the results during 2026 and the start… pic.twitter.com/j3BG4HzAMc

— Preston North End FC (@pnefc) September 13, 2026

With the game finishing 0-1 to the visitors it now leaves North End with one win from seven and seriously staring down the barrel.

Man of the match - Andrija Vukcevic

The Montenegran was particularly impressive down the left, winning a number of corners and constantly giving the Imps something to think about.

Bad day at the office - Callum Lang

The former Portsmouth man has been in good form as of late, but really struggled to have any impact in this one. Struggled to work well up top with Kenny.

Player Ratings

Daniel Iversen - 6/10: Did not have much to do but probably should have dealt with Ogbene's shot that lead to the winner.

Harry Clarke - 6/10: Sent in some good crosses, but to no avail.

Odel Offiah - 7/10: Offiah actually had quite a solid game so cannot reallty be faulted.

Jordan Storey - 6/10: Not the worst performance but is part of a defence that has failed to keep a clean sheet since February.

Andrija Vukcevic - 7/10: Standout player for PNE, and no suprise that the goal went in after he was replaced.

Jordan Thompson - 6/10: Kept the ball moving well at times.

Liam Gibbs - 5/10: Ran around a lot, but that was pretty much it.

Stanley Mills - 5/10: Won some corners but failed to beat the first man with the majority of his crosses.

Alfie Devine - 6/10: Looked the most creative on the pitch and like someone who could make something happen.

Callum Lang - 4/10: Failed to offer anything in the game.

Johnny Kenny - 6/10: Looked lively at times but just lacked that strikers instinct.

Substitutes

Leo Leroy - 6/10: Had a few nice touches and passes but nothing to shout about really.

Delano Burgzorg - 4/10: Did not get involved whatsoever.

Jusef Erabi - 5/10: Held it up well at times, but struggled to offer anything going forward.

Thierry Small - N/A

Andrew Hughes - 5/10: Came on and Preston conceded almost immediately. I think that says enough.

Next up for Preston

Preston travel to the capital to face an inform QPR which will prove to be a very difficult matchup.

With managaer Paul Heckingbottom having officially received the axe from the PNE dugout, it will be interesting to see how his likely-temporary successor will react - and who the club will bring in over the international break.