Preston North End midfielder Brad Potts spoke to iFollow PNE as he and his team-mates prepared to make the move from Springfields to their new Euxton training facility.
The No.44 said that the win at the weekend had given the squad a boost going into the two-week hiatus from games and felt it was no more than they deserved for their performance.
“It was a great win going into the international break,” he said. “In the first half they punished us with their chances – they had two decent chances and they were clinical.
“Even at half-time the lads thought we had done alright, without threatening too much and we just knew we had to keep doing what we had been doing and get a goal, which we knew would change the game, which it did. In the second half we were totally dominant and deserved the win.
“When we noticed the huddle it was like they were panicking a little bit and we said amongst ourselves that we needed to keep being aggressive, pressing and doing what we had been doing and we knew another goal would come and thankfully it did and I thought we thoroughly deserved it.”
Brad grabbed the vital third goal, to put the Lilywhites in front and he admitted he always intended to shoot, despite the run of Ryan Ledson, who had given him the ball in the first place.
He also felt the side were unlucky not to add to their goals, with a couple of strong penalty shouts; whilst he admitted the most disappointing aspect of the day, was not being able to celebrate his goal with the supporters.
“I did hear Leds shouting on the overlap for me to slip him in, but I always had intentions of having a shot,” continued the 26-year-old. “Most people would open the goal up there and it looked like that’s what the keeper expected, but I did him at the near post and I was really happy to see it go in and we deserved to take the lead at that point and we went on to get the fourth and the three points.
“I was right next to Browney when he was fouled and I thought straight away it was a penalty, but the referee is there to make those decisions and thankfully it didn’t affect the result because we got the four goals.
“The only frustrating thing about the game was that there were no fans in the ground, because it would have been a great day for them and for us to be able to celebrate in front of them. That’s just how things are at the minute and hopefully we made them all happy watching at home.”
The break comes at a good time for many players, with a rest needed after an intensive first couple of months of the campaign and it is something the Hexham-born man is looking forward to, especially as it includes the move to Euxton.
“We’ve had a lot of games from cramming them into pre-season and then the Carabao Cup games, so most of the lads have had quite a lot of minutes, so it is probably a good time to rest and with the three points on the weekend there is a good feeling about the place and we want to kick-on from here and take this into the Cardiff game next up.
“It will be strange to move, because [Springfields] is all I have ever known since I have been here, but I have heard really good things about the new training ground, so all the lads are looking forward to going.
“If it’s a nice day I might now even take a stroll into training, rather than driving! It is ideal for a few of us and we are looking forward to moving in.”
When the players return to action, they face Cardiff City in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Sunday 18th October, a 12-noon kick-off, and after losing to the Bluebirds – also on TV – back in June, Potts says there is a determination to use the Brentford win as a springboard to more victories.
“We know what Cardiff are about. They have got some good players, they are a big physical team.
“We played them after lockdown and we didn’t manage to get any points from that game, so hopefully after the Brentford game we can carry on that momentum and take that into the Cardiff game,” he added.