Jermaine Beckford is ready to get back to doing what he does best, scoring goals.
After the events of recent months, which have seen the striker miss seven games for North End through suspension, the 33-year-old feels he has learnt from his mistakes and is aiming to make amends during the remainder of the season by helping boost PNE's position in the Championship.
Speaking of the incidents, Jermaine said: "That’s the first time in my career that I have been through something like that and it was tough to take. But these things you have to learn from and as tough as it was for everybody involved, and the fans especially, there are brighter times ahead.
"I can’t wait to get back on the scoresheet and help the team win some more games and hopefully if all goes to plan, promotion. The Play-Offs are right there aren’t they."
The former Everton frontman knows he has a point to prove to himself, as well as those at the club, especially the supporters.
"I’ve been out for a while now, for somebody that likes to play games and score goals, it’s tough spending a lot of time on the side lines. I’ve got a point to prove there and it’s just good to be back on the pitch playing the game that I love."
After coming off the bench against Aston Villa at the weekend, PNE's No.10 featured in a behind-closed-doors game against Bury on Tuesday, where he played the full 90 minutes as he maintains his fitness for when called upon in the first team.
"To come on the other day and get 15-20 minutes, and then push myself a little bit further on Tuesday was brilliant. It’s another step in the right direction in terms of where I want to be with my fitness.
"To win the game is always a nice feeling but ultimately, it’s about your fitness levels and staying sharp for when you get your call up back to the first team. You know, so you’re not struggling keeping up with the pace of the game.
After missing a period of games, Beckford knows it is going to be tough to earn his shirt in the starting Xl, with fellow striker Jordan Hugill and Callum Robinson in terrific form. But that is just an added motivation for Jermaine.
Speaking of his teammate's recent form, he continued: "They are playing really well and that’s something else that is an added motivation. Seeing everybody else do so well and wanting to be a part of that. It looks like it’s history in the making. We’ll see where we go.
"If you don’t have competition, then it’s not healthy. Jordan has been doing unbelievably well and everybody is proud of him and we are all here to push him on and to push ourselves on as well. It’s a team game and we are all fighting for the same thing at the end of the day. If he’s doing well, we are all doing well."
The focus for Becks now is to put the past behind him and focus on ending the season on a high with the Lilywhites.
On his targets for the rest of the season, he added: "Just to play as many games as I can, score as many goals as we can, keep as many clean sheets as we can and win as many games as we can. The Play-Offs aren’t that far away. There’s enough games left and we’ve been doing really well. We’ve got strength of numbers in the team so hopefully we can push on and you never know.
"Everybody’s surprised by us, I said it last year, everybody is surprised by what they get when we play against them. Hopefully we will be able to add a little bit more with myself coming back, and Stevie May. There’s a lot of boys that are here, that are pushing everybody that is in the starting eleven. If we get suspensions or injuries or whatever we have got enough in the back room to fill in and push on. We will see where we go from here."