Preston North End defender Ben Davies marked a red-letter day at Deepdale last Saturday.
The 23-year-old led the team out as captain at a home game for the first time and put in a man of the match performance as he led his side to victory with Sean Maguire’s dramatic 94th minute winner.
And reflecting on a momentous day with iFollow PNE at Springfields this week, the No.6 admitted it had been a special day for him and his family.
“It was brilliant,” said Ben. “I’d go as far to say it was the best part of my career so far. It was good to have my dad and my friends and family there. My dad used to drive me down from Barrow to Preston for five years and for him to be there on Saturday was special for us both.
“It has been a long round about way to get to where I am and I wouldn’t change it, but it was a really good day on Saturday and everything went to plan. It was a real milestone and a day I will never forget.”
The win put the team on the cusp of the Play-Off places, only out of the top six on goal difference, and the Barrow-born centre half feels that the work done to get into the current position will further inspire the team to try and ensure it does not go to waste.
“We have done a lot of hard work getting from where we were to where we are now,” he continued. “As players we always knew we were capable of it, as we showed last year.
“I think we are in a realistic position now and it has all just been hard work and sticking to our task. We have played some good stuff on the run that we have been on and now we have got to a point where we have a mini-break, so we can settle down, refresh and we have eight games to come back to and attack, where we have nothing to fear.
“We have put a lot of hard work in to turn it around, players and staff, but we don’t want to let that go to waste. When we come back from this international break, we have eight massive games, where if we can carry on the form we have been in, I see no reason why we can’t finish in the top six.”
The international schedule means that there is now no game until the Lilywhites travel to Berkshire to take on Reading a week on Saturday and Ben feels the break will provide vital rest, both physically and mentally, heading into the final eight game mini season.
“The last three games we haven’t played as well as we can do, but we have managed to get the results. This break now gives us chance to rest our legs and rest our minds mentally as well.
“Hopefully we can come back, play some good stuff, and carry on from where we left off.
“The target before the season started was to get in the top six and that is still the target, we have just gone about it in a round about way.
“We are right on track now to where we want to be and we will go into these eight games with nothing to fear.
“I feel we are in a stronger position than last year, so hopefully we can carry on with the form we are in, because we are all playing with a lot of confidence and we can take advantage of the run we have got ourselves on,” he added.
Watch the full interview with Ben now on iFollow PNE by clicking on the video above.