Ali McCann admitted he’s “buzzing” to have scored twice in the 4-1 victory over Huddersfield Town in the first round of the Carabao Cup.
The midfielder, who was one of six changes to last weekend’s starting XI, netted two very similar finishes in the first half, both on the end of crosses from the left from Álvaro Fernández.
His goals came in the middle of Troy Parrott’s sixth-minute opener and Brad Potts’ low strike early in the second half.
“I’m buzzing,” he told iFollow PNE. “It’s been a while to be fair so I’m just delighted.
“Álvaro’s put it on a plate twice so I’ve just got to do the finishing bit and I’m delighted, and to get through as well, score two goals, it couldn’t have gone any better.
“He [the manager] is big on the opposite midfielder getting in when it goes down one side so I just thought I'd get my head down and try and get in there, and luckily Álvaro’s put it on a plate twice, so it was good to get in the position and put it away.”
North End went to the John Smith’s Stadium without a goal in the opening two games of their Championship campaign, while hosts Huddersfield Town have lost both of their matches.
PNE meant business right from the very start, though, and quickly put the sword to their hosts.
Ali said: “I think everyone’s delighted with the performance mostly and obviously the result, and progressing to the next round.
“I think in the first half in particular we were brilliant. We moved the ball around well, took our chances when they came and I don’t think Huddersfield could live with us, particularly in that first half, so everyone’s delighted to progress.”
During the build-up to the match, manager Ryan Lowe said he was keen to give opportunities to some of his players who maybe haven’t seen as many minutes as they’d have liked to during the early stages of the season.
Ali – who hasn’t featured yet this Championship campaign – was one of those to come in, and he has certainly made an impression ahead of PNE’s trip to Luton Town on Saturday afternoon.
On looking to take his chance, Ali said: “That’s what he [Ryan Lowe] said before the game. Obviously there were a couple of changes, lads coming in like myself included, we’ve just got to do as best as we can to try and stake our claims for the coming games and I think we did that.
“All the lads that came in and the lads who stayed in from the weekend, I think we’ve all done ourselves justice and it’s good for everyone moving forward.”
You can watch Ali's full interview on iFollow PNE above.