Frankie McAvoy thinks his PNE side showed they are “formidable” in the away victory over Celtic.
The Lilywhites capped off a tough week of training with a 1-0 victory at Celtic Park, with Ben Whiteman’s penalty the difference between the two sides.
“I was delighted with the workout,” said Frankie, in an interview with iFollow PNE. “I thought it was a good game, we knew exactly how we wanted to try and play the game.
“We knew at times we needed to be patient, sit off, allow Celtic [to have] the ball at times and then when we got it, we needed to make sure that we could get it forward quickly and cause them issues when we had it up top, and I thought we did that.
“I thought in the first half Scotty’s a bit unfortunate that he doesn’t get the penalty kick, maybe a wee bit too honest that he didn’t go down. He stays on his feet, but even then I think the referee’s got to give it, but these things happen.
“I thought we caused them issues when we got the ball forward and the pleasing thing for me was how disciplined we were.”
The fact only 2,000 supporters were allowed inside the 60,000-seater Celtic Park perhaps made the venue of the game look all the more impressive.
It’s a place Frankie knows pretty well, having visited it many a time as a child and also during his coaching days in Scotland.
He said: “It’s a lovely stadium; my dad used to bring me here when I was a wee boy. We had success with Alex [Neil] ourselves when we came here with Hamilton.
“I thought today the guys showed that they’re formidable. Preston – we’re not bad, and if we can just keep working hard with them, you never know where it takes you, but I was delighted all round.”
With the Scotland pre-season camp now at its end, Frankie reflected on the squad’s week in St Andrews, which consisted of daily training sessions and two friendlies.
Asked for his thoughts on the week, the head coach said: “Brilliant. Really, really good. We brought new players in and brought some young boys.
“Obviously we played young Josh Seary today, but Noah [Mawene] and Lewis [Leigh] will get game time, there’s a few other games coming up and over the piece I’ve been delighted. “Matthew Olosunde picked up an issue with his Achilles at the St Johnstone game, but hopefully he won’t be too far away, and other than that we’re looking in decent enough shape.
“Browney’s now started to train as well. Izzy [Brown] got his first minutes, Declan [Rudd] back for his first game, first 90 minutes, and I thought Declan had a really good game, so I’m really pleased.”
You can watch Frankie’s full interview with iFollow PNE above.