Despite only making his debut this afternoon, January signing Jayden Stockley is more than aware of his role in the side, and admits he thrived off leading the line for North End this afternoon.
Nine days after making the move north from Exeter to Preston, and having been cup tied for the FA Cup match, Stockley slotted straight into the side as the focal point for Alex Neil’s team this afternoon and made a nuisance of himself throughout.
“It was a tough game and we had to go right to the end to get that point,” analysed North End’s new No. 20 post-match.
“It was nice to try and be that focal point for the lads and get the ball players on the ball and give them as much space as possible. You’ve got to be that outlet when you’re my size and I’ve been brought in for a reason and that’s to do a job and I enjoyed the battle.
"The bigger the battle, the happier I am it’s nice to know you’re in a game. The players will get used to me and I’ll get used to the players and what they like doing and hopefully we can progress.
“I’ve had a bit of time just to train with being cup tied last week so it was nice to get to know the boys and they’re a great bunch of lads.
“There’s a lot of injured players at the moment which is a shame and we’ve picked up a couple today but it’s just testament to the boys; Swansea took the lead and our heads could have sunk but we dug in deep against a really good side and got a deserved goal after that."
Stockley would have aimed to have marked his Deepdale bow by finding the net this afternoon, and although it wasn’t to be for the 25-year-old, he did play a major part in North End’s equalising goal.
After being forced wide, Stockley’s cross was adjudged to have been handled by Connor Roberts resulting in the referee, Keith Stroud to award a penalty in North End’s favour.
“We made a few passes after their goal to getaway down the flank” continued Stockley. “It was nice to win the penalty and it was very cool from DJ putting it in.
“It’s not very often I’m in that position but Barky put me in down the wing and I managed to get enough power on it to force the penalty.
“It was nice to play and be a part of the goal; I was just trying to stay in the middle of that box and feed on anything coming my way. It didn’t quite happen today but I was happy with my overall game and it was good to get a point."
Watch more reaction from Stockley on iFollowPNE now.