PNE goalkeeper Thorsten Stuckmann has expressed his delight at signing a new two year deal with the Club and admits he is looking forward to working with fellow shot-stopper Declan Rudd once again.
The 32-year-old put pen to paper on a contract which keeps him at Deepdale until 2015, and was elated to have extended his stay with the Lilywhites, having been at the Club for two years already.
“It feels really good,” he told PNE.Com.
“I’ve been looking forward to this day since I’ve been back in Germany and I think it took a bit longer because I was away in Germany all the time.
“I’ve just got back and signed the new deal and I’m looking forward to the season.”
It’s no secret that Stuckmann has settled into life in Lancashire with ease and the German-born ‘keeper highlighted his family’s comfort as one of the main reasons behind his decision - insisting that signing a new deal was always at the forefront of his thoughts.
“We’ve got a lot of friends here now which made it much easier to take the decision,” he added.
“We know the area quite well now and because our little one is just two-years-old, we don’t want to move around all the time.
“Of course it was always in our mind so we all happy to stay here for another two years.”
The 2011/12 Player of the Season became the second ‘keeper to re-sign for PNE in just two days, after Declan Rudd sealed his year-long loan on Tuesday.
And Stuckmann is excited to start working with the England U21 international once more, but expects a tough battle for the starting spot between the posts, when pre-season begins.
“It’s good to see him back but it’s tough competition between the two of us,” he continued.
“I expect myself to start, of course, and I’m really looking forward to seeing him again and to push each other forward to get better.
“When you’ve got two good goalkeepers, to us it matters who plays, but for the Club it doesn’t matter because they know everybody will play at their best and that is really good.
“So I’m looking forward to the season and looking forward to working with Dec to make the Club better.”
And Stuckmann has revealed his excitement for the first few games of the season after the League One fixtures were announced at 9am on Wednesday morning.
“I think the first couple of weeks are quite amazing for all of us,” he said.
“We have Wolves at home, then Blackpool at home, MK [Milton Keynes] at home, Coventry away and we have Liverpool as a friendly so I think the first couple of weeks are amazing.”