Ben Davies is delighted with his recent form, and thinks his personal game has improved dramatically over the last 12 months.
The defender, who picked up the man of the match award in last weekend's clash with Fulham at Deepdale, came through the club's Academy and this season has established himself as a regular in Alex Neil’s defence.
The 22-year-old told iFollow PNE he is thankful to the manager for showing his faith in him, saying: “Since I’ve come back from Fleetwood last season, I’ve managed to get some game time. The manager’s put me in the side, which I’m grateful for, and I’m just trying to improve game on game.”
Davies has had loan spells at a host of clubs prior to this season, most recently at Fleetwood Town after spells atg York City, Tranmere Rovers and Southport - something which he thinks has made him comfortable playing at a higher level.
“I think my game has improved massively through coming up the leagues, and this is just another level that I’m trying to prove myself at.”
“Of course, there’s a great deal of pressure playing at Championship level compared to the leagues below - there’s bigger crowds and it’s watched much more. But I feel fairly comfortable playing in this league now and I’m really happy with how the season has gone so far.”
North End currently sit just four points outside the Championship Play-Off places and with nine matches to go, Davies is confident the side have what it takes to reach the top six come the end of the campaign.
“I’ve said before, it doesn’t matter where you are until the last day of the season. We’ve got nine games to go to reach the top six and we’re still in a great position to do that.”
The Lilywhites make the trip to Sunderland on Saturday, with Chris Coleman’s side sitting at the bottom of the Championship table. Despite their league position, Davies won't be taking the game lightly, with the Black Cats fighting for their lives to stay in the division.
“Every game is difficult in this league, and we’ve found that out across the course of the season so far. It doesn’t really matter where teams are in the league, it’s about what happens on the pitch and on any given day teams can come out and turn things on it’s head.”
“We’re going to go to Sunderland on Saturday, leave it all out on the pitch and hopefully come back with the three points which will keep us right in the mix.”
Watch the full interview with Ben now on iFollow PNE.