Declan Rudd says it was a privilege for the current Preston North End squad to represent the Club on Saturday following Sir Tom Finney’s passing.
The Norwich City loanee kept goal as the Lilywhites drew with fellow promotion chasers Leyton Orient on an emotionally charged afternoon at Deepdale.
And he says that the players felt lucky to represent one of the greatest of all time.
Speaking exclusively to PNE.Com, Rudd said: “It was an honour to play on Saturday to be honest.
“I feel very lucky and privileged to be able to represent the man himself and it was an emotional day for the people who knew him, all the fans and the people involved with Preston over the years.
“It is a big loss to the community, to football and obviously all the charity work he has done.
“It was an honour to represent him on the day.
“It sort of gives you an extra incentive to get the three points, unfortunately we weren’t able to on the day, but I think we put in a performance that would have made him proud.
“We were out there representing him with his name on our shirts and I think we done as much as we could and on the day we deserved to win.
“I think we were the better team and had the better chances and on another day we would have probably come away with a win, but the occasion was obviously a massive one and we tried our best to represent him in the right way.”
Tuesday sees Simon Grayson take his charges south to Milton Keynes for a big Sky Bet League One clash with MK Dons.
And the PNE No.23 says that now is the time for a maker to be put down in North Ends promotion bid.
“They are a very good footballing side MK are, it is another tough game for us,” added Rudd.
“Dropping the two points on Saturday, it wasn’t ideal, but there is still a long way to go.
“There are 16 games left and I think we need to set the marker down, we have put in some good performances over the last few weeks, but probably haven’t dominated in the scorelines which maybe we should
have been.
“It is another big test for us, but we are all confident and playing well at the minute and it is up to us now to finish the job in hand.
“We have got a job to do and we know what we have got to do and the type of team we are coming up against.
“In this league, any team on their day can beat anyone.
“We have just got to make sure tomorrow that we turn up, put in a performance and do what we have got to do to bring three points back.”
Recent weeks has saw Rudd be as effective in helping the Lilywhites amass their current points total of 56 as anyone, with some key interventions against the likes of Tranmere Rovers and Orient.
And the ‘keeper joked that he enjoyed repaying his team-mates.
He continued: “The lads have kept the ball away from me all season so it is nice to pay them back with a couple of saves!
“I am just enjoying it up here at the minute, I am enjoying my football.
“I am excited with what is still to come in the season and it should be a good finish, I’m looking forward to it.”