Preston North End

The North End chief spoke after the 1-0 win and felt his side deserved the win, with summer recruit Tom Clarke making  a name for himself with the late winner.

“It was an intense derby match; I thought it was a cracking atmosphere and was on a knife’s edge,” the gaffer told the post match press conference. “I thought we defended well, we passed it well and we were just waiting for an opportunity to get that goal and although it came from a set piece, I thought we did well in the game and deserved the win.

“Tom got man of the match at the weekend and I am delighted that he will go down in history with our supporters. 

“I said to the players before the game that one of them could write their name into the history books of this Club by being the one who puts the ball in the Blackpool net and obviously Tom did that.”

His side made it two clean sheets in a row and eight from nine competitive home games under Grayson and he felt that as the game went on his side grew into the performance.

“We know Blackpool pass the ball well and have people coming in off the line who can cause you problems and like to get in advance areas,” he continued.

“We kept our shape and discipline, grew into the game and knew that we would get some opportunities once we got a foot hold into the game, because we’ve got players who can affect the game. 

“We grew in confidence, grew with the game and I was delighted that we got on the end of a set piece.”

The goal was created with a piece of quality from Lee Holmes, something the manager feels will benefit his side this season: “Lee showed good quality on Saturday and again tonight; he really whipped it in and when you’ve got people doing that, you need someone to really attack it and Tom certainly attacked it and everybody was delighted when he hit the back of the net.”