North End have been blessed when it comes to goalkeeping options in the last few years.
From Declan Rudd through to current No.1 incumbent Anders Lindegaard, the custodian spot has been one that managers, players and fans have not had too much to worry about.
The latest man to wear the green for the Lilywhites sat down with The One And Only last week to reflect on his decision to move to PR1, his first few games with the Club and his feelings about the dressing room he has walked into.
Many commentators and football people suggest that goalkeepers don’t move into their prime until they reach their 30s and if that is the case, then North End are getting the very best of the Danish international, who signed on loan for the rest of the 2015/16 season at the end of the January transfer window.
Born in Dyrup, Denmark, Anders started his career in him home country before making his senior debut in Norway, winning the Norwegian Cup in 2009 with Aalesund and being named goalkeeper of the year in both Denmark and Norway in 2010, leading to Sir Alex Ferguson snapping him up for a fee around £3.5m, taking him to Old Trafford.
His time with the Premier League behemoth meant that his move to Deepdale from his current club West Bromwich Albion, who he joined from United in the summer, was a path well-trodden and that there were familiar faces in his new home team dressing room and he admits it has been an enjoyable time.
“I really have enjoyed it,” he told the matchday programme. “It’s been fantastic to come and play football with a really good group of people.
“It’s difficult to not mix in well here, both with the personnel around the team and the players themselves. They made it very easy to feel welcome from the very beginning and I feel really happy to be here and that’s exactly what I hoped for and what I wanted to achieve, not just in terms of results, but mentally and emotionally it’s been really positive and I’ve been very happy.
“It’s been a very good group [working with the goalkeepers]. Doing Goalkeeping routines is not always the most exciting thing to do. There’s a lot of repetition and a lot of hard work, and I think it’s the hardest working position, but I think it’s been made easier with a good group of goalkeepers.
“We’ve got some good lads and the goalkeeping coach is very good. I have a lot of respect for Alan [Kelly] and his goalkeeping methods and his approach to things. You can quickly see that he knows what he’s doing and that he’s got a lot of experience at the highest level and that helps you and gives you confidence.
“You can tell he knows what he’s talking about. He rests on what he knows and what he can give you and on top of that, I really like his methods.
“He’s all about quality not quantity.
“As a goalkeeper, you can touch the ball three times in 90 minutes, but for those three times it needs to be quality, so for a goalkeeper I really like his methods. His assistant Jack [Cudworth] is a very nice guy as well. He does good work and he keeps the atmosphere high within the group and they all contribute to a good group to work with.”
A debut and a clean sheet at Derby, a last minute save against Huddersfield and a win at Wolves; it is easy to form a good relationship with the fans when your first three games produce seven points, as the Premier League title medal winner admits.
“It helps that we scored a late winner and I had a couple of saves to make. It was a great welcoming and I felt really good, even when I first came onto the pitch to warm-up with the fans.
“I like the Club; there’s something about it and I’m not just saying that because I’m here.
“There’s a very good mentality for a Club that’s only just been promoted.
“I can only speak for the players as I’ve not had as much experience with the fans yet. The mentality in the group of players is very good and it’s very professional. There’s a lot of energy and my feeling is, is that everybody wants to be a part of the team and even when you’re not, there’s no head’s dropping low and there’s no talking bad about anybody behind anyone’s back.
“You see everybody likes the manager from both those who are, and who aren’t playing.
“There’s a good energy here and a little bit of that magic that can perform very well and can look in relation to that ability and it’s really nice to be a part of that. It’s been a great couple of weeks and it’s been more that I could have hoped for in every sense.
“It’s a great group of guys and I really enjoy the energy here.”
There are also interviews with Ben Pearson, Greg Cunningham, Paul Gallagher, Callum Robinson and manager Simon Grayson in our latest edition of The One And Only. We also have 13 pages of content about the visitors and much, much more crammed into the 84 pages of perfect bound content – on sale for just £3 from the Tuesday afternoon from the Club’s retail store or inside and outside the ground on match night.