Nicky Wroe was delighted to put away North End first home penalty for over a year in the 2-0 triumph over Oldham at Deepdale,
And he was relieved to see North End pick up all three points against relegation-threatened Oldham Athletic after the Lilywhites were made to work hard for their victory.
Simon Grayson’s men were forced to wait until late in the second half to take the lead against a resilient Latics side, as Wroe stepped up to give his side the lead from the penalty spot, before Will Hayhurst sealed the win in injury time.
Wroe’s penalty was the first spot-kick the Lilywhites had scored in over a year, and despite having already missed one earlier in the season, North End’s No.8 confessed to PNE.Com after the game that he was always confident of finding the back of the net.
“There wasn't going to be many chances in the game with the pitch the way it is,” Wroe said. “It’s always going to be hard to create chances. It was good to get the penalty and we’ve been long overdue one.
“It was a scrappy game and it was always going to be tight. Oldham are fighting for their lives down at the bottom of the table and they made us work hard for it. It was good to get the win. Yes it looks convincing, but it was far from that.
Wroe continued: “I missed a penalty on New Year’s Day up at Hartlepool so there was a bit of pressure on that I suppose, but I was always confident that I could stick it away though.
“I have done before, so it was nice to score one today and for Will to go on and seal it at the end.
“It was a good and sometimes you’ve got to win like that. It wasn’t the prettiest but that doesn’t matter as long as you get the result.”
After scoring his tenth goal of the season against Scunthorpe on Saturday, Wroe could not hide his delight at finding the target once again, before vowing to further add to his tally between now and the end of campaign.
“It’s always nice to score,” revealed North End’s leading goalscorer. “I had a long wait for my tenth, so it’s good to not have long to wait for my 11th. Hopefully now I can go on to get a few more before the end of the season.
“I don’t have any individual target really to be honest. As long as the team are winning as many games as possible we’re happy, and if I can contribute by scoring a few more goals then that would be good too.”
After the match Wroe was full of praise for substitute Jeffrey Monakana, after the former Arsenal youngster won the penalty within minutes of entering the field of play.
“Jeff did well when he came on,” said Wroe. “He’s been out of the team for a while so obviously when he gets his opportunity it’s up to him to prove himself to the manager and show him what he can do.
“He came on and he did that. He got that bit of room and spaced and added that extra attacking threat for us and always looked dangerous.”
After keeping their fifth clean sheet at Deepdale in six matches, Wroe was also quick to praise the Lilywhites’ backline, before insisting how important it is for North End to build on their current form.
“We conceded too many goals early in the season,” Wroe admitted. “We’ve also found that usually when we get one goal we go on to win games, but when we fall behind it’s always more difficult to chase games.
“It’s good to be keeping clean sheets and keeping it tight at the back, knowing that it might only take one chance at the other end for us to nick a win.
“We’re coming to the end of the season now so it’s up to us that in these last few games we give our all, and make sure we take some confidence and results into next season.”