Speaking after his first PNE goal in his first away game, Brad Potts felt that North End executed their tactics perfectly at Loftus Road this afternoon.
Maiden goals from Jayden Stockley, Jordan Storey and Potts himself saw PNE secure a 4-1 victory with Alan Browne also getting on the scoresheet late on, and Potts felt the comfortable victory and fantastic performance merited the preparation going in to today’s game.
“It was a great team performance” said Potts after the win. “Obviously we knew before the game that it was a big game today and we needed a real team performance to get the three points, and I thought everybody to a man was brilliant.
“We had a game plan that we’ve been working on all week in training - for me and Browney to be making runs in behind and it was causing them problems. We just kept trying to do that and we ended up getting the goal in the end from it, so the game plan worked and it went well.
“It is best when you’re pressing against teams and not letting them get on the ball. We were doing that from the off. It was a great finish from Jayden and we actually have been working on them finishes in training so that’s paid off as well.”
Stockley’s finish on 14 minutes set the game up well for North End who went in at the break a goal ahead. The hosts looked to combat North End’s pressure by bringing on Matt Smith to bolster their attack at half-time, and although the Lilywhites were aware of QPR’s new outlet, Potts felt that it was important for PNE to stick to their guns.
He added: “With Matt Smith coming on we knew it was going to be a different type of game and they’d be trying to get it long into him. It is hard to deal with sometimes but we knew if we kept on playing how we did first half then we knew there would be chances on the break.”
It was positives all round for Potts with the new No. 44 also getting on the scoresheet for North End’s fourth, and in his post-match interview with iFollowPNE, he was understandably delighted to get up and running in a PNE shirt.
“As a midfielder, you need to be in the right areas to score goals, Browney’s got plenty this season and he popped up again at the back post.
“I’m delighted to get a goal; that’s what I was brought here to do - to try and create goals and score them. It’s my away debut for PNE and I’m just really happy with the performance and delighted to get a goal.”
On his goal, Potts recited: “I started too far out so I was sprinting to try and get the ball, it bounced and it was on the up so I had to get it down to have a chance of scoring and thankfully it went in.”
Potts' full interview will be available on iFollow PNE later tonight.