Preston North End midfielder Matt James believes that the ten-man victory over Cardiff will bring the team closer together.
James was speaking after he saw his midfield partner Paul Coutts sent for an early bath after two bookable offences either side of half-time. Many sides could have crumbled against a team with Cardiff's attacking intent but PNE were strengthened in the face of adversity.
"You get them in football and you have to deal with it," was James' assesment of what might be deemed a harsh red card for Coutts.
"We dealt with it and I am sure that it will bring the team closer together for the next game. You know you have got a shift in whoever goes off, no matter who goes off you know you have got a shift because they have got eleven and you have got ten.
"I thought that we all got behind the ball, we were compact and we didn't really have that many chances even though we had ten men."
North End were ahead by a slender one-goal margin against the Bluebirds when they went down to ten men, but just two minutes after Coutts walked down the tunnel, Jon Parkin extended Preston's advantage with a fine strike.
He said: "They have got eleven men and they are going for the game so it was bound to open up. It has opened up and Parky has put in a great finish and then Chris Brown's chip was magnificent. When Chris shot I was wondering what he was doing but obviously it was a great finish, great for the team as well."
The Lilywhites went in at the break ahead thanks to a Jon Parkin penalty, one which had a few scratching their heads as to why it was actually awarded in the first place.
James said: "I actually didn't have a clue what was going on, I thought that Ross had done something to the other guy and when he gave a penalty I was baffled, fortunately Parky put it away. I don't think the referee knew what was going on, it was the linesman that gave it but fair play to the linesman, he has had a bit of bottle and given a penalty.
"I think Ross knew exactly what was going on, he said he got gripped with both hands and the guy should have been sent off."
The on-loan midfielder now faces a trip to Holland this week with England's U19 squad and whilst he is looking forward to that, he is also coming to terms with the hard grind of the intense Championship fixture schedule.
"That should be good, hopefully we will get a win and I will enjoy it come back and then play again in this team on Saturday again," James smiled as he contemplated another midweek game.
"When you are playing in the reserves you have most of your games called off or you wont have a game for two or three weeks. Over the Christmas period I hardly played but coming here and going straight to two games a week it was tough but each game I am getting fitter and fitter and hopefully I can keep putting in the performances that help the team."
