Preston North End defender Jordan Storey spoke to iFollow PNE during the international break to look back on the first stage of the season.
The Lilywhites’ No.14 has played ten games so far this season and he admits that he has been happy with this involvement, but it still looking to improve.
He said: “I am definitely happy to have got as many games in as I have. It is just disappointing to have not picked up more points than we have. But to have played as many games as I have already this season, is a good thing.
“One of the things, looking back on last season, was a disappointment at how many games I had played, so on a personal note, to almost have played as many this season as I did last season is a positive for me.
“To get to where I have gotten quite quickly is mad. I still want to get to the next level, that’s my goal, but I have to keep striving to improve.”
Still only 23, Jordan – who didn’t come through an Academy set-up – admits that he is still improving and learning and feels that mistakes are things that will grow him as a person and a character.
“You are going to make mistakes all over the pitch, but as a defender or a goalkeeper, it is more likely to end up in the back of the net,” he continued.
“You learn from those mistakes and every player will go through making mistakes, it is how you react to them and learn from them.
“You are going to get setbacks in your career and go through bad stages of form, but it is how you deal with making errors or the team not doing as well as it should be; that’s how you show your character as a player.
“You can’t get too down with the way things go, because football is a funny game and with the amount of games coming up, you could win three or four games in the space of a week and we need to keep pushing.
“It is not going to go your way completely throughout a season, but it is about how you bounce back and deal with setbacks.”
Looking back on the first 11 games of the season, the Yeovil-born centre half feels that the disparity between home and away form has been ‘bizarre’, but he believes that with one win, things can quickly turn around.
“It is bizarre. Some of the results at home have seen us not take the chances we have taken away from home and we have made the odd mistake and been punished for it.
“The lack of fans plays a part in it, but we know we are more than capable of picking up a lot of points at home and that win will come eventually.
“Teams know how we play, so how teams will play is not affected too much, but with the fans, there would be times normally when we are 0-0 and need that extra spur, or are 1-0 down and chasing the game and you get that extra encouragement.
“The results away from, home have been excellent and home results are coming – if we take our chances, we will have no problems.
“Once we get that win, I’d like to think we are capable of going on a run. We have seen in the last few seasons that we have gone through spells where we will go undefeated for ten games and we are more than capable of doing that again,” he added.
There’s more from Jordan on the video above, as he talks about the need for a rest during the international break and the next game against currently managerless Sheffield Wednesday – just click on the video at the top of the page.
If you want to watch the clash with the Owls, click here now to sign up for a match pass on iFollow PNE, where Jonathan Breeze and Paul McKenna will bringing full match coverage live from Deepdale.