Preston North End full back Joe Rafferty enjoyed the feeling of being top of the EFL Championship, even if it only last a little over 24 hours.
The Lilywhites’ day and bit at the summit of the EFL ended on Monday night with West Bromwich Albion’s victory over Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium, but the Liverpudlian is hoping there is a repeat of it sooner rather than later.
“It was a good feeling to be top, even though it didn’t last too long,” he told iFollow PNE. “It was good for the fans, they were able to sing ‘we are top of the league’ and it was a good feeling - that’s what we want and hopefully we can get back up there.
“It was a great result us away at Charlton. It is a tough place to go, it always has been and always will be, so if you come out of there with three points you are always happy. It doesn’t matter how you play or how you do it, if you get three points, you are buzzing.”
The No.15 has kept Andrew Hughes out of the side, despite the Welshman’s return from injury, but admits he is happy to be part of the squad and supportive of whoever is playing.
“I am made up,” he continued. “I just want to play. It doesn’t matter where, I am just happy to be playing and doing my bit. It doesn’t matter whether I am on the pitch, on the bench or in the stands, I will be supporting the team to do as well as we can.
“We have a close group and we are just all similar people – we have our own personalities, but in football terms, we are all similar and want the same thing.
“It would be a massive achievement for everyone in the dressing room to go up or to do really well in the season and that is the main goal, to do as well as we can and be up there at the end of the season.
“We haven’t got any players who are massively out there and think they are better than anybody else. From the highest earners to the lowest, everyone is just the same; you can chat to anyone and they are all just normal lads.”
The next test sees in-form Huddersfield Town come to Deepdale, with the Terriers unbeaten in seven under the management of the Cowley brothers.
The former Rochdale man says the league are seeing what is expected of the West Yorkshire outfit and acknowledges that North End will have to be at their best to take another positive result into the final international break of the calendar year.
“They are a good team. They were in the Prem and did brilliantly there. Now they are down you expect them to be right up at the top straight away and that hasn’t been the case so far, for one or two different reasons, but now the new manager has come in, they have found their feet.
“The league isn’t really a reflection of how good they are. They will come to Deepdale and make it a difficult game on Saturday and we will have to be at our best.
“We have done really well at home. Everyone in the division will say ‘let’s win all our games at home and take it from there’ and any game you get a chance to win at home you want to take it and then away some are difficult and you can be happy with a point, but our home form has been brilliant and we have to keep it going.
“It will be brilliant to get the three points and go into the international break on a win. You get the following weekend off and it is good to go in it knowing you are in a good place and if we win we know we will be in the top two and it would be brilliant to be in and about it going into a bust period,” he added.
Watch the full interview with Joe on iFollow PNE by clicking on the video above.