Preston's season really started to kick off with an away win at Chesterfield earlier in the season which saw them go on a tremendous run. The same could not be said about the reverse fixture at Deepdale.
Despite being satisfied with Saturday's performance Westley made changes including dropping man of the match George Miller. Jamie Proctor returned up front whilst Coutts and Proctor anchored the midfield with Mayor returning on the wing and the ineffective Holroyd on the right.
Graham Westley ahs certainly been talking the talk but so far his team have failed to walk the walk. He has described how he had a similar start at Stevenage but Preston are flirting very close to the relegation zone and things don't seem to be abating.
In fairness, it was Preston's third clean sheet in a row to follow up the shut outs against Walsall and Hartlepool. This is something that hadn't happened for a long time - certainly not under Brown and Ferguson.
The back four looked fairly comfortable against a Chesterfield side who seemed lacking in attacking spirit execept right at the death when a header hit the bar which would have been unjust had it gone in.
As far as attacking goes Preston had two meaningful shots all game. They came in the second half when the lively Mayor flashed one just wide of the post and substitute Hume hit the side netting.
The Whites created nothing and never looked like troubling a Chesterfield side who seemed content and somewhat bemused by their hosts who sat back for the best part of an hour before a flurry of attacking substitues changed the impetus in the last half an hour.
Unfortunately, goalless draws at home won't be enough for Preston. They need to make the magical fifty point mark to be safe and with forty one on the board they don't have enough remaining home games to creep up to that tally without a win here or there. Plus, Preston ahve some tricky home fixtures where they face the promotion chasing times.
It is worrying times for Westley who was booed off last night. It was the last Guild year when Preston were sitting relatively safely in this division before a run of awful results saw them relegated on the last day of the season. Let's hope is not one of those seasons.