Preston North End’s interim head coach Frankie McAvoy says that the players should play free of pressure when they take on Derby County on Tuesday night.
Speaking to iFollow PNE ahead of the visit of Wayne Rooney’s Rams says that his side should take the positive’s from the draw at Stoke and look to turning that into three points under the floodlights at Deepdale.
He said: “What you don’t want to do is put people under undue pressure. They need to be in a good environment where we are going to get the best out of them.
“I thought we could see in the first half on Saturday, at Stoke, that once we lost the press a little bit, a wee bit of panic set in, having come off a heavy defeat.
“But, credit to them, once we managed to sort it and fix it, and get that belief back into them, I thought we were unfortunate not to take the full three points.
“A point was positive and what we need to try and do, is to be a wee bit more clinical up top, when we get the opportunities and chances. We have started to create chances – they may not be clear cut, but we are getting there and that is the big difference, because if you are scoring goals, you have a better chance of winning the game and that’s what we need to try and do.”
The opponents in PR1 were in Lancashire last Friday night as well, losing 2-1 at Blackburn Rovers, but Frankie believes they deserved more from the game given they display at Ewood Park.
“They were a bit unfortunate not to get a positive result against Blackburn,” he continued. “But they are a good team. They have got good players, but, unfortunately, they find themselves in a precarious position in the league, as a few clubs do.
“What everybody starts the season wanting, is to remain a Championship club and then hope you can get into the top six and get promoted to the Premier League, because that is everybody’s ultimate goal.
“It will be a tough game on Tuesday night, I have every respect for them and every respect for Wayne Rooney and the job he has done. I know I have only done it for four games, but I understand that being a manager is a stressful situation at times.
“You have to try and please as many people as you can who support your club and ultimately it is about winning, that’s the most important thing.”
And he says that after his first four games in charge of North End, he is only looking forward, trying to improve game by game.
“We had eight games when we came in and the task then in the same as it is now; win as many games as we can, get as many points on the board as we can and if we get enough points on the board, then we will be fine.
“That’s where we are. We are four games in, we have had a win, two draws and a loss; it is decent, but what we need to now is put that in the past, those points are on the board and we now need to pick up as many points in the next games, focusing solely on Derby on Tuesday night,” he added.
There’s loads more from Frankie if you click on the interview above, as he reflects on the return to the team of Greg Cunningham, the ongoing work with the forwards in the squad and his options for the clash with Derby – just click on the video at the top of the page to watch the full interview.
This Tuesday’s game is live on iFollow PNE, with Matt Hardman on commentary duties, joined by former North End goalkeeper Andrew Lonergan, on air from approximately 6.30pm. Click here now to sign up for a match pass for £10.