Preston North End full back Joe Rafferty knows this weekend’s opposition coaching team better than most.
The former Liverpool Academy man had Steve Cooper and Mike Marsh as coaches at Melwood in his younger days and is looking forward to facing them again this weekend.
The No.15 has been impressive at left back, filling in for the injured Andrew Hughes and he told iFollow PNE that the last few results have given the team plenty to build upon.
“It was good to get the game out of the way and have a little break, as well as have a look at the other teams,” said Raff. “It was good to get the win, as points on the board are always better than games in hand.
“You would rather have the win than be playing catch up, so it was a great decision to get the game in as soon as possible and we were fortunate enough to win.
“Getting back to back wins was important; that’s what you want. We go out to try and win every game – you don’t win them all – but when you get two good wins on the bounce, it can only bring momentum.”
The early season trip to the Liberty Stadium saw the Swans come out on top, but it was a memorable day for the former Rochdale man, who scored his first – and currently only – goal in North End colours.
“The result wasn’t too good, but it was brilliant to get my first goal,” he continued. “It was an unbelievable feeling at the time.
“They are a good team; they play really good football. I know the manager Steve Cooper and his assistant Mike Marsh very well; they were my youth team managers at Liverpool.
“They look to play football in the right way; they want to get the ball down and play, so it will be a great game between two good teams and we will go at it and see how we get on.”
The Swans still have a lot of players together from their long run in the top flight, but Joe is ready for the challenge: “We played against [Conor] Gallagher and even after the game we said how good a player he was. I didn’t realise how young he was, but he is a really good player and will be a good signing for him.
“[Sam] Surridge went back to Bournemouth and they have brough [Rhian] Brewster in and I have seen him play a few times at Liverpool and he is another really good player who will bring a lot of energy to them.
“They have some amazing players; they have Andre Ayew, who is an incredible player, plus Kyle Naughton and [Wayne] Routledge, so as well as the new young lads they have some great experience too.
“Everyone is back in and looking forward to Saturday. We have a few more lads back from injury and it is good to have good competition, because we have some amazing players at the club and that can only improve us and help us.
“Most of our focus will be on us and as long as we do things the right way, then we think we can get a result against anyone. We will work as hard as we can this week, listen to what the manager says and hopefully we can win the game,” he added.