Darren Ferguson is confident that results will improve after watching his side fall to defeat at Swansea.
The North End boss watched as his team lost 4-0 at the Liberty Stadium, a loss which came despite the Lilywhites controlling the first quarter of the game.
"We actually started really well," Ferguson said after the match.
"We looked threatening, we probably had the better chances. They are a very good passing team but you can definitely frustrate them, one moment of lapsed concentration from Danny Mayor, we spoke about that, the way people switch off, I don't know what he is trying to do, I thought he could have done better on the second goal but he has got to learn from it, up until then there was no problems, we were the one that looked like scoring."
North End have endured a difficult start to the campaign with injuries ruling out key players, the Lilywhites were once again missing Sean St. Ledger and the Gaffer admitted that he doesn't want to rush players back.
Ferguson said: "Sean was a difficult one because he has only trained twice and I have got such a small squad I can't really risk players. I feel that have got to have at least a week's training, it's a hamstring and if he does it properly it is two months and I can't afford that to happen. Craig and Billy did fine, I don't think any of the goals were down to them.
"It is going to be a long hard season, we know that, with the amount of changes, everyone is aware of the financial situation. I am certain that as the season goes on we will get better and better, but goals do change games and the third goal killed us.
"It's a poor start to the season, probably most people outside of the Club expected us to start like that, I don't think many people expected us to be challenging, but we have got a plan in place, we want to be as competitive as we possibly can and make sure we consolidate our place in the league.
"I just want us to be as competitive as possible, we have had a disappointing start in the league, 2-0 and 4-0 defeats suggest that. I feel the performance today compared to 12 months ago was better."
