Preston North End goalkeeper Declan Rudd is looking for Deepdale to be rocking for Monday night’s clash with table-topping West Bromwich Albion.
The Lilywhites’ No.1 sat down with iFollow PNE to look ahead to the live Sky Sports fixture and admitted that a vocal home crowd could make a huge difference in the game.
“It is given that we go out and give 100 per cent every game and if the crowd can go out and turn up in their numbers and get behind us 100 per cent as well, it helps us massively on the pitch,” said Dec.
“When Deepdale is rocking and the fans are fully behind you, it makes a difference – it is like having an extra player, so let’s hope we can create an occasion on Monday to get back onto the track we want to be on, back to winning ways and keeping Deepdale the fortress that it is, staying unbeaten at home.”
The last two results have hurt in the Deepdale dressing room, but the stopper believes this is the perfect game to try and return to winning ways.
“We put ourselves in a great position for the first quarter of the season and we played really well.,” he continued. “We have played two games where we haven’t performed and that is football.
“Unfortunately, as a squad, you can’t be on top form in every single game; you are going to hit spells where it is not quite working for you and also we have had a few injuries that have hit us recently in key positions, so everything snowballs into one and it all becomes part of the issue.
“There is no need to panic. We are all professionals and we have been in the game long enough and been through patches like this and we just need to do what we can to get out of it.
“There are teams that hit form and drop form every week and because the Championship is so competitive, you can within three games change about ten places, but it works the other way around too, so that when you hit form again, it is tight enough that you can make the ground up.
“We have given ourselves the platform from the beginning of the season, it is now just about getting back together and, in my opinion, we have the best possible game coming up.
“[West Bromwich Albion] are the best team in the league at the minute, so it will raise everyone’s game and hopefully get the performance back up to where it should be.”
And the custodian feels a performance against the Baggies will provide a huge boost: “We want to go out there and play against the best teams in the league to show that we should be up there fighting out for those positions and I know the mentality of this squad and of the 11 players who will start the game, is that we can go and give our best against any opposition.
“We are going to go out there, give it our all and look to get back to the performances we have been giving out and try and get back to winning ways again.”
Injuries have not helped in the last two games, but irrespective of who is available for the game on Monday night, the former Norwich City man feels that the backs against the wall spirit could be an additional assistance.
“You have seen it time and time again, when there are a lot of injuries and players come into the team who have maybe been on the outskirts of the squad in recent games, they want to prove to everyone that they deserve their place.
“The lads all pull together and you know you have to give that extra bit of fight, because the cohesion of the team is a little bit out, because a number of the team haven’t played together for a few weeks.
“Sometimes it can be a positive that there is this situation; you have to look at it in a different way – if you look at it as all doom and gloom, it is not going to help anyone, so you have to look at the opportunity of getting a chance to prove what they are about,” he added.