Joe Rodwell-Grant said it would be “absolutely crazy” to get the chance to play in front of the sold out away end at Morecambe tomorrow evening.
The first-year professional made his debut in the first round of the Carabao Cup off the bench against Mansfield Town and he’s hoping he will get another opportunity on Tuesday at the Mazuma Stadium.
Asked whether he’s quite got over the moment of making his first competitive appearance, Joe said: “No not really. It was a dream come true when I made my debut, but I’m just looking forward now to the Morecambe game and hopefully getting a win.
“If Frankie brings me on, I’ll try my best, give 100 per cent and we’ll go from there.
“I just want to impress and impress the fans and help the team which is most important. Hopefully if I do that I get my chance in the league or in different competitions, which will really help boost my confidence so I’ll be delighted if I got on.”
North End will be backed by a sold out away end at Morecambe, with all 1,764 tickets snapped up within 48 hours of their release.
While Joe has played in front of the PNE away fans in Wigan and Mansfield, this would be another step up for the young forward.
He said: “It would be absolutely crazy so it’ll be that extra ten per cent that they’ll give me if I get on the pitch to work even harder for the team, for the fans and for the gaffer, so it’ll be a good experience even if I don’t get on.”
The Deepdale faithful made their feelings for the 18-year-old heard on Saturday as they chanted “he’s one of our own” in his direction.
“I picked up on that as soon as they said it,” he smiled. “That was mad. That was everything I’ve thought of and when they started singing it I started smiling to myself.
“I don’t even know what to say about it, it was mad, but the fans were really good on Saturday and obviously we got the win which was really good too.”
That victory was the first of PNE’s Championship season so far, coming out 1-0 winners against Peterborough United, but Joe felt it wouldn’t have been undeserved for his side to win by a greater margin.
He said: “I thought it was really good. We created lots of chances and on a different day those chances go in and we win five or six nil, so we’ve really come to grips with how we’re playing now in a different formation. We’re just looking to push on now and see where it can take us.
“The camaraderie around the group was already high, but now we’ve got our first league win under our belt it’s even higher now.
“So now we’ll just take that confidence into Tuesday’s match and not overlook Morecambe because they’re a good team. They beat Blackburn in the recent cup game, so we can’t overlook them and we’re going to give it 110 per cent so we’ll see how that goes.”
Hear more from Joe in his full interview on iFollow PNE.