Jack King was in a positive mood following Preston North End’s 1-1 draw with npower League One title challengers Swindon Town.
The 27-year-old set up Will Hayhurst to open the scoring for the Lilywhites, only for North End to be pegged back after Swindon Town substitute Adam Rooney scored with his first touch late on.
Rather than be disappointed after losing the lead, however, King praised his team-mates for holding on to secure the draw, though admitted on another day North End could have claimed all three points.
“I’d say that today was definitely a point gained,” said the No.22. “Maybe the team picked itself after last week.
“We went with the same today. We weren’t as fluid or free-flowing today but we’ve dug in there and got the point.
“Obviously we look to get three points in every game and that was no different today. In the second half after we scored they put a lot of pressure on us.
King continued: “Conceding the goal like we did, teams can buckle under that, but we showed a lot of mental strength and a lot of rigidness at the back to hold on. We dug in and put our bodies on the line at the end.
“If you look at the teams at the top, we’ve nicked results against nearly all of them. Today was no different.
“Not many teams come here and get anything. We could have nicked it, but in the end I think a draw was probably a fair result.”
North End brought just under 1,000 fans to the County Ground, as King paid tribute to the Club’s supporters.
“The support from the fans was fantastic,” King insisted. “To come this far down south and to still get the numbers we did is superb.
“We know that when we give the fans something to shout for they’ll follow us everywhere . Credit to them, all season they have been incredible and today was no different.”
King, who admits his favoured position is in midfield, has started upfront alongside former Didcot Town team-mate Stuart Beavon in recent weeks, after previously filling in defence earlier in the season.
While he admits he is never likely to challenge for the golden boot, after creating Hayhurst’s opener, he revealed he is happy as long as he keeps on setting up goals: “I’ve been playing in between the lines in recent games and got an assist last week as well,” he added.
“It’s always nice to get an assist. It would be nice to score a few more, but the way I play I’m never going to be a 20 or 30 goals a season man, but if I can carry on helping the team to score then all the better.
“I don’t know where the new manager sees me playing, or if he does see me playing. I can play a number of roles, and midfield is my preferred position, but I’ve been playing upfront for the majority of this season with relatively good success.
“I’ll play anywhere for the team and I’m sure over the next few weeks the manager will have a better look at me and we’ll go from there.”
The former Swansea trainee admits recent results have not been good enough, but after beating Bournemouth last week and drawing with Swindon today, he stressed the importance of North End building on such results, starting with MK Dons next weekend, if they are to a mount a serious push for promotion next season.
“We haven’t been getting the results we should have been getting this season, especially with the squad we’ve got, and it’s about turning that around now under the new manager. What’s gone is gone. We focus on the future and look to get the points next week away at MK Dons,” he said.
“We go into every game with confidence. With the players we’ve got, we know we should be at the top of this league, or there and thereabouts, and now it is up to us to make sure next season we’re right up there challenging for promotion.”