Defender Liam Grimshaw was pleased to play the full 90 minutes in the pre-season clash with Burnley.
Coming up against Premier League opposition was a challenge the 22-year-old relished and it was made more special for PNE's No.16 who was up against his boyhood club.
Speaking to iFollow PNE after the game, Grimshaw said: "We've played lower league sides before so it's good to play against a team from the Premier League and test yourself against better sides.
"I really enjoyed playing against Burnley, I had a lot of my family here and my friends in the away end so I really enjoyed it."
Grimshaw was happy to step up his preparations by featuring for the whole game, and is hoping to impress the new manager ahead of the first game of the season.
"I enjoyed it, I thought it was a good work out, previously I have just played 60 minutes against Accrington the other night so it was good to get 90 minutes under my belt.
"I think everyone just wants to get as many minutes as they can under their belts now and try and impress the manager, especially with him being new.
"It's an opportunity for everyone to impress him and that's all it's about really, getting fit and getting ready for that first game.
On the new manager, Grimshaw continued: "Training has been really good, the manager obviously wants to play a certain way which is different to how we played last season but it seems to be going well.
"All of the lads are buying in to what he wants us to do and hopefully everyone takes that on and if we keep on improving we will be ready for the start of the season."
Watch the full interview with Liam Grimshaw on iFollow now.