One shouldn’t sound churlish. After all, it’s not every day that a 3-1 deficit with six minutes remaining is transformed into a 4-3 victory.

Not every day you get to laugh long and hard at the small band of PNE supporters who thought they had it won. And not every day the opposition goalkeeper gets in such an hilarious tizzy at the final whistle that he salutes you with four fingers before inviting all-comers on to the pitch for a robust post-match analysis.

But, quite frankly, Burnley got out of jail.

The remarkable turnaround owed as much to the referee’s harsh decision to reduce the visitors to 10 men and Preston’s lack of steel and organisation, as it did to Burnley’s dogged determination.

The comeback masked a number of failings. It will, for example, come as no surprise to anyone who has watched Laws’ men this season that the Clarets conceded three goals.

In previous games, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City could have been out of sight by half time, while Swansea should have filled their boots.

Andre Bikey and Clarke Carlisle are as solid a pair of centre halves as you will find in the Championship, yet too frequently Serengeti-like tracts of space open up down the middle, as evidenced by Preston’s first and third goals.

Whether this is also partly due to the thus far unconvincing combination of Dean Marney and Graham Alexander in central midfield is a moot point. Until the introduction of Chris Eagles and Jack Cork, creativity was at a premium.

Burnley’s greatest chance of exploiting Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace’s poor starts to the season rests with a change of personnel. For this writer, Eagles and Cork have done enough in cameo appearances to oust Martin Paterson and Marney.

Dropping the former to the bench would also give Brian Laws the option of having a front three of Paterson, Steven Thompson and Jay Rodriguez to send on to chase the game if necessary.