Summer signing Ryan Ledson can’t wait to get his PNE career underway as the countdown to the opening EFL Championship fixture at Deepdale gains pace.
The Liverpool-born midfielder spoke to iFollow PNE, with Queens Park Rangers the visitors on Saturday, with the Lilywhites looking for a positive start to the 2018/19 season.
“It’s exciting!” Enthused the new North End No.18. “Everyone looks forward to the start of the season. It is a long wait from the last competitive game and training has gone up a notch again this week, so we are looking forward to Saturday.
“Training is already intense here; everyone is after it every single day, but everyone wants to be in the team on Saturday. We have no games left to impress, so we all need to do it in training.
“You have seen over the pre-season, we have had two XIs at a time where you could think anyone could start. The squad is strong and all in all we are looking strong and everyone is looking forward to it.
“I am really looking forward to getting out at Deepdale. The games I have had were great, the pitch is looking good and I know the atmosphere will be brilliant and hopefully everyone can get down and support us.”
Having had five weeks with his new team-mates, last season’s Oxford United player of the year feels like he has settled very quickly in the Springfields dressing room.
“I have settled in quite well,” he continued. “The lads, I can’t thank them enough, they have been brilliant to me. The manager, the staff have been brilliant and I really feel a part of it.
“I have heard people say before ‘you are going into a great group’, but this genuinely is a brilliant group of lads. Everyone is together, they are good mates off the pitch, which is good and I am looking forward to being part of it this season.
“It was a successful season for me last year, but it is a clean slate now and a new league and I am looking forward to testing myself in it. Having the games that I have in the lower leagues has stood me in good stead.”
The visitors at the weekend have a new manager and will be hoping to start well too. And whilst the 20-year-old doesn’t know too much yet about his opponents, he knows that by the weekend he will be fully educated on what to expect.
“I said to [Calum] Woodsy, that I couldn’t recall them making many signings, but they have got Steve McClaren as the manager and we will know everything about them by the weekend.
“The gaffer, tactically, is brilliant, we go through everything in so much detail, so that when we are on the pitch there are no excuses. We will know what to expect and will have all the information,” he added.
For the full interview on iFollow PNE, click on the video at the top of the page to watch Ryan’s chat.