Josh Harrop has been reflecting on his first full season in a first team environment, following his debut campaign with the Lilywhites.
Harrop joined in the summer on a free transfer from Manchester United having made one first team appearance at Old Trafford, scoring in a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace in the last game of the 2016/17 season.
Speaking to iFollow PNE, Josh said: “As a team we’ve had a great season, we were unlucky not to make the Play-Offs, it was only was couple of points in it.
“We’ve improved as a team from the previous years and we hope to kick on next year and see if we can push higher up the table. For myself, it’s been stop and start, I've not had a proper run in the team.
“But when I’ve had to come on off the bench I felt that I’ve had a good impact so I’ll take my positives out of this year and hopefully kick on next year a lot more.”
Although the 22-year-old was signed before Alex Neil's arrival last summer, Harrop is enjoying life under the manager and feels there is a lot that he can learn from the gaffer.
“He’s a good manger to work under. He’s got a lot to give the players, a lot of information and a lot of things to learn.
“It’ll be positive going into next season, all the lads are in good spirit even though we didn’t make the Play-Offs this season, we’ll be right at it next season.
“We just have to make sure we work hard and everybody comes back fit and everyone’s at it from the start. There’s a good belief in the team and a lot of talent, next year will take us where it takes us.”
Now that the season is over, most players will be taking time off to rest and recover. As well as that rest, the squad will keep working to make sure their fitness is good when they arrive back for the pre-season and the young playmaker is hoping that his off-season work will help him.
“You get your holiday in and everyone has their own individual things they want to work on.
“I’m going to go in the gym in the summer and prepare right; work on my body strength and hopefully that will help me improve when I come back for pre-season.
“Everyone does their own stuff in the summer, some like to do less than others but I’m going to put quite a bit in this off-season to get me right for next season.
“It’s been a season where it’s about improvement and a lot of learning. When you get to the stage when you’ve got to be winning games, you’ve got to do the right thing on the pitch.
“Next season everyone will be a bit more mature, a bit more experienced and we’ll go into it in really high spirits.”
North End’s No.10 also had a message for his former manager Sir Alex Ferguson who has been in hospital recently and his sentiments match those of the club.
“It’s sad to hear but everyone hopes there’s a speedy recovery. I’ve seen that he’s up and speaking after his surgery so hopefully he’s okay and we send all the best to him.”
You can watch the full interview with Josh Harrop by clicking on the video above.