I really should know better by now. Nothing was more certain after I praised City’s improved defending that they would hit the self-destruct button against Preston with a series of errors that saw them lose a game they should have won.

It was a strange game in a strange weekend where each of the top three lost and which ended with just six points separating the top 10 sides.

However, that’s exactly how the Championship works. A week previously Watford went to Stoke and won 4-0 yet last week Sheffield United lost 3-1 there, while Blackpool, having been beaten at home by City, beat Watford 3-1. It’s utterly unpredictable and that’s what makes it so much more interesting than the Premier League.

Last Saturday’s game was a lot of things, but one thing it wasn’t was boring, although that word seems to have become a mantra to be trotted out week after week by a section of the fanbase.

There was no shortage of incident and City produced enough chances in the opening 20 minutes to put the game to bed, but all unbeaten runs always end at some point, usually with a stroke of bad luck, like the deflection for Preston’s winner.

However, whilst there were plenty of things to criticise about City’s performance, credit is due to the visitors, who withstood the early onslaught and defended throughout with remarkable discipline while exploiting the weakness of the referee to waste plenty of time, which infuriated City fans, although none of us would have complained if the boot was on the other foot.

City’s narrow midfield caused all sorts of problems for Preston early on, but once they got some possession and started to exploit their extra width it became a much more open game, although City should still have had the better of it had they not fallen into the seasons-old traps of obsessively trying out to play out from the back with no variation and being over-elaborate in and around Preston’s box.

While they were moving the ball quickly Preston had no answers, but once they slowed things down the visitors were able to regroup and grow into the game.

However, what will have hurt Dean Smith the most is that while the move that led to the equaliser was well executed, both of the other Preston goals were totally self-inflicted, with Tim Krul’s aimless pass and Max Aarons’ slow reaction combining for the second and Liam Gibbs' surrender of possession when under no pressure on halfway leading to the third.

Much as I admire Krul, his distribution has often been sub-standard this season, but on Saturday he looked generally ill at ease as evidenced by a wild hack out of play in the first half and several failures to command his six-yard box, and he will have been disappointed not to have done better with the third goal, despite the deflection.

Nervous goalkeepers make for nervous defenders and Smith may feel that Angus Gunn now deserves a chance.

The Pink Un: Marcelino Nunez struggled to make an impact against PrestonMarcelino Nunez struggled to make an impact against Preston (Image: (C)Focus Images Limited www.focus-images.co.uk +44 7813 022858)

He will also have a choice to make in midfield, where Gabriel Sara produced his most convincing performance so far in a City shirt while Marcelino Nunez and Aaron Ramsey were largely peripheral for much of their time on the pitch.

The drop off in Nunez’s performances is unsurprising given that he had already played half a season in Chile before arriving at Carrow Road, but Smith will be hoping that he rediscovers his spark with a tough run of games coming up.

It was also noticeable that City looked much better balanced going forward when the naturally left-footed Kenny McLean replaced Sam Byram at left back, although the biggest positive of the day was undoubtedly the involvement of Isaac Hayden in a post-game training session and fans will be praying that he had no reaction.