The latest edition of the Pinkun podcast got stuck into the good and the persistently bad after Norwich City’s 3-2 Championship defeat to Preston.

Host Connor Southwell was joined by Paddy Davitt and Samuel Seaman for episode 509 in our long-running podcast, recorded hours after the final whistle at Carrow Road.

Dean Smith’s side started in flowing fashion, capped by Josh Sargent’s early breakthrough, but the residual concerns around control, composure and cohesion from front to back were exploited by a well-drilled Preston.

“It was more of the same, in terms of the bittiness, and the disjointed nature of the performance,” said Davitt. “But what wasn’t there in contrast to previous games is they were unable to find a way.

“That aspect, for me, has been coming because it is asking a lot to go the well, game after game, and dredge something when for the quality of player they have in this squad at this level, they are not really imposing themselves on opponents.

“The concern now is they go to Watford, if they don’t get a result there, you felt that frustration in the ground at the final whistle. A smattering of boos, nothing untoward, but the atmosphere was completely dead for the duration.

“What had been insulating them, to a degree, was they were getting the results and the points. They remain joint top by dint of Sheffield United losing.

“So you have to caveat everything by saying, ‘take a look at the league table, take a look at the points on the board’ but a lot of people have underlying concerns which are not going away until we see some evidence.

“What we saw against Preston is if they throw in those charitable defensive concessions they will probably fall the wrong side of results, and if they fall the wrong side in these upcoming games, against the likes of Watford, Sheffield United and Burnley, then it won’t be enough just to look at the league table, because that will be looking a lot less healthy than at the moment.

“Alarm bells would be too much, off the back of one defeat, but it does graphically illustrate there are some issues in terms of the personnel, where they are playing on the pitch, what is Smith trying to do with this group.

“They are not going away, and they couldn’t mask it against a well-organised, well-coached Preston.”

– You can listen to the full episode of the Pink Un Podcast here – and don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to ensure every episode downloads via your chosen podcast provider.