Preston North End 0, Everton 1

Jul 23 2008 by Nick Smith, Liverpool Daily Post

BOTH sets of fans gave Alan Irvine the occasions he craved by uniting to chant his name at Deepdale last night.

But it was left to David Moyes to show his former number two who was boss.

And not before time during this pre-season friendly campaign too, as Phil Jagielka headed in the eighth-minute goal that halted Everton’s run of two successive pre-season friendly defeats.

The surprise omission of Andrew Johnson ahead of kick-off meant they achieved it with, for the most part, a hugely inexperienced front six in which only 17-year-old Jack Rodwell played in the Premier League last season.

But their performance meant their manager, unlike his friend and opposite number Irvine, could be pleased with the result he achieved against his former club – and it was certainly a huge improvement on the last game

Moyes’s previous visit to one of his old haunts came just three days earlier, meaning the 4-2 defeat at Cambridge United was still painfully raw in the memory.

But with his current squad being as depleted and incomplete as Preston’s new main stand, there wasn’t much he could do about shaking up the personnel last night.

All except goalkeeper Iain Turner and Dan Gosling – back from England under-19s duty – were involved in the debacle at the Abbey Stadium but they took this instant chance to redeem themselves.

With Moyes expressing his dismay with how a back four full of international experience allowed a Blue Square Premier side to stroll through it on Saturday, it was clear the manager was expecting a far more cohesive unit to be on show.

And he took no chances on that score by telling Phil Neville to skipper the side from right-back as he made a good defensive display his priority.

No surprise either, given that last night’s back four might not be too dissimilar to the one he names when the serious business gets under way in 25 days’ time.

Moyes could ask for no more than a clean sheet. Joleon Lescott and Jagielka looked more like their old selves, with the lines of communication well and truly open once again following the weekend breakdown.

Given that Jagielka’s form at centre-back alongside Joseph Yobo was one of last season’s real success stories it meant Lescott was often utilised at left-back. Of course, it didn’t hinder him in his attempts to clean up the player of the season awards but it did mean he and Jagielka had no chance to form any kind of partnership in the middle of the back four.

But at least if Moyes has to call on them to strike up an understanding at any point in the future, he will be a lot more encouraged by last night than he was four days ago.

Turner was only called into serious action on a couple of occasions and aside from a brief first-half flurry, pressure from the Championship side was kept at bay.