Manager Simon Grayson has been grateful of the time spent with his squad during the break ahead of an intensive period in the fixture list.
New signing Aiden McGeady joined up with the squad for the first time on Thursday morning, and the gaffer feels the addition of the Irishman, alongside fellow deadline day recruits Alex Baptiste and Marnick Vermijl, will give the squad a boost going into the remainder of the season.
“Obviously last week with Alex coming and Marnick coming back we’ve had a bit of time Friday, Monday and Tuesday.
“Aiden’s been away with the Republic of Ireland still, spoke to him a couple of times while he’s been away so we are looking forward to seeing him today and getting some work into him.
“Obviously delighted that we signed him in the first place, I’m sure he’ll bring the quality to the dressing room and to the training pitch and to Deepdale on Saturday that we’re all looking forward to.”
The players have been working hard over the break and the PNE boss feels the work done on the training pitch will help the team go the distance in the upcoming matches.
“I think people approach it in a different manner, I’m led to believe one manager had given their players nine days off and everyone’s free to do that. There is no right way or wrong way to do it.
“We felt that we needed to get plenty of work in on the training pitch as well as letting the players have a little bit of rest and recuperation. They’ve had a busy schedule in August and also we’ve got a lot of games coming up in September so it’s the right balance.
“We’ve done a lot of work on the training pitch which has been nice because we’ve not really managed to do that all season since it started."
Speaking of the work done during the break, Grayson continued: “When you are playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday it’s hard to get free time to go and do what you need to do at times. So it’s good to get some work done and hopefully we will see the fruitions of it in the next few weeks and months now.”
“That’s what you need to prepare for and hopefully we have the right balance. With quite a few games, plenty of work on the training pitch, specific players, with the team etc.
“So hopefully as I have said that opportunity that we have had will work in our favour and also the players have had a few days off here and there.
“There is no right way or wrong way with what happens in these international weekends and managers give different groups and squads more time off sometimes less time off. It’s all relevant to what you think is right for you.”
You can hear more from the manager ahead of this weekend’s game against Barnsley, head to PNE PlayerHD now by clicking here.