Ahead of Preston North End’s clash to newly promoted Scunthorpe United this weekend, Simon Grayson is cautious of the threat Russ Wilcox’s men might hold.
Scunthorpe bounced back into League One at the first attempt after finishing as runners up in League Two last term, and if history is anything to go by, the Iron are certainly due to pose a threat to Simon Grayson’s side come Saturday afternoon.
Out of the four promoted teams in League One last season, none were relegated, and three of the four teams finished in the top half with Rotherham ultimately being promoted.
Grayson, who himself has experienced at first-hand what it’s like to be a promoted side having achieved the feat three times said: “You could see last year, particularly in this division the momentum the promoted sides had.
“It can be because you’ve got a winning mentality and you’re used to winning games so you can keep going and have that desire to succeed.
“They had a fantastic period last season under Russ (Wilcox) – he set a record last season with the number of games unbeaten as a first time manager so full credit to him.
“Obviously they were one of the promoted teams last season so they’ve got that momentum.
“They’re a hard working team and organised so we know not to expect an easy game but we’ll try and impose our game like we do against every other team we play against.”
The game marks the beginning of North End fans on the road in the League for this season, and Simon Grayson is hoping for that continued away support that so nearly pushed Preston all the way to achieving their goal last time out.
North End’s away following last season was well documented in the footballing world, and Grayson was delighted that it looks as though that will continue after another decent crowd at Spotland against Rochdale the other night.
One member who wasn’t able to witness those efforts was talisman Joe Garner, who was the only member to miss out from an otherwise unchanged 11 from the Notts game last weekend, but the gaffer has reassured fans it's nothing to worry about going into Saturday.
“We had some fantastic results and performances away last season, and the fans following was excellent to go with that.
“Again, the other night against Rochdale a large part of the crowd was built up by Preston North End fans, so hopefully for our next two away games at Scunthorpe and Doncaster our supporters can be going away in a happy mood with three points under our belt.
“Joe [Garner] would have played against Rochdale if it had been a league game.
“It’s just a precaution that we left him out, but he’ll join in with training today and hopefully he’ll be okay for the weekend.”
Out of the four promoted teams in League One last season, none were relegated, and three of the four teams finished in the top half with Rotherham ultimately being promoted.
Grayson, who himself has experienced at first-hand what it’s like to be a promoted side having achieved the feat three times said: “You could see last year, particularly in this division the momentum the promoted sides had.
“It can be because you’ve got a winning mentality and you’re used to winning games so you can keep going and have that desire to succeed.
“They had a fantastic period last season under Russ (Wilcox) – he set a record last season with the number of games unbeaten as a first time manager so full credit to him.
“Obviously they were one of the promoted teams last season so they’ve got that momentum.
“They’re a hard working team and organised so we know not to expect an easy game but we’ll try and impose our game like we do against every other team we play against.”
The game marks the beginning of North End fans on the road in the League for this season, and Simon Grayson is hoping for that continued away support that so nearly pushed Preston all the way to achieving their goal last time out.
North End’s away following last season was well documented in the footballing world, and Grayson was delighted that it looks as though that will continue after another decent crowd at Spotland against Rochdale the other night.
One member who wasn’t able to witness those efforts was talisman Joe Garner, who was the only member to miss out from an otherwise unchanged 11 from the Notts game last weekend, but the gaffer has reassured fans it's nothing to worry about going into Saturday.
“We had some fantastic results and performances away last season, and the fans following was excellent to go with that.
“Again, the other night against Rochdale a large part of the crowd was built up by Preston North End fans, so hopefully for our next two away games at Scunthorpe and Doncaster our supporters can be going away in a happy mood with three points under our belt.
“Joe [Garner] would have played against Rochdale if it had been a league game.
“It’s just a precaution that we left him out, but he’ll join in with training today and hopefully he’ll be okay for the weekend.”