Jordan Storey joked that he is a ‘fox in the box’ following his goal and assist in the 2-0 victory over Barnsley.
The defender opened the scoring in the 38th minute, his first goal since March 2019, and he then turned creator for North End’s second of the game, flicking the ball on for Ched Evans to slot home.
Speaking to iFollow PNE, Jordan said: “It’s nice to get back on the scoresheet again. It’s been a long time coming.
“You could see, fox in the box! I was delighted to get that goal. Hopefully we can finish strong for the rest of the season now.”
At the other end of the pitch, Storey and his fellow defenders kept yet another clean sheet – their fourth in succession – and that’s the first time that has happened since 2015.
He’s been used more recently as part of a back three, alongside Liam Lindsay and Andrew Hughes, and Jordan admits he is happy in whichever system they choose to set up in.
“You could see we look structured and we’re confident,” he said. “We all know each other’s jobs, and when we go out there, I just feel like we’re hard to beat and we’re not going to concede so it’s good.
“I’m comfortable doing either [centre of a back two or right of a three]. I think we’ve really functioned well me being on the right, Lindsay in the middle and Hughesy left. It just all works together and flows really well, so it’s been good.
“I think we were going into the game confident off the back of two wins and three clean sheets. We were up for it and we know they’re a good team. We know what they bring and what they possess. We just went in there expecting to win and give it our all and thankfully we came out with the win.”
Since Frankie McAvoy took over as interim head coach, North End have now taken 14 points from seven games, and that has seen the Whites jump up the Championship table.
Speaking of the last few weeks, Jordan said: “I don’t think they could get any better. For Frankie to come in, credit to him, to do what he’s done - I think we were leaking a lot of goals - and to come and get five clean sheets and start scoring a few goals as well, I think it’s been great.”
PNE will finish their season next Saturday as they travel to face Nottingham Forest for a 12.30 kick-off, and with the top half of the table still within reach, Jordan and his team-mates are going there to do all they can to leave with three points.
He added: “We’ll be going and looking to get another win, to get another clean sheet, and try to climb as many places as we can.
“I think we can still finish 12th. We’ll be looking to win the game, looking to put in another strong performance to finish the season off well.”
Hear more from Jordan in his full interview with iFollow PNE in the video above.