Manager Ryan Lowe credited the “fantastic” Deepdale crowd for galvanising his Preston North End side as they earned a point against Sheffield United.
PNE went into half-time two goals and a man down, but came out fighting in the second half, and the home supporters inside the stadium certainly reacted to that, spurring their team on to make a dramatic comeback.
The point earned came courtesy of goals from skipper Alan Browne and Emil Riis, with the latter’s coming with just a minute remaining of normal time.
Speaking to iFollow after the game, Ryan said: “Today I witnessed being 2-0 down with ten men and I asked the lads to go and give it their all and give it everything and they certainly did that.
“What I will say on that as well is the fans certainly helped that because of how loud they were, how good they were.
“They’ve been great since I walked through the door. Keep continuing to do that for the group. Whether your chips are down and you think you might not get back in, I’m telling you now, that drove the lads on.
“You could see it. We’re driving them on from the sidelines, we’ve turned them a few times, Ched [Evans] has come on and ruffled a few feathers and got in people’s faces.
“We’ve scored two fantastic goals with ten men, let’s not forget that. The fans take a lot of credit for that today.
“We were 2-0 down, we were dead and buried if you like, and they galvanised themselves to get the group back on side. You heard it, and we heard it from the side, they were fantastic, so brilliant, well done.”
With the circumstances of the game – Andrew Hughes’ red card on 38 minutes and two goals behind – the late equaliser feels somewhat like a winner.
The case was the same in the reverse fixture against Sheffield United, too, as Riis netted a 94th-minute equaliser at Bramall Lane in September, and he was the man who claimed a point for his side again on Tuesday evening.
Ryan said: “It feels like a win, doesn’t it? I don’t want to get too carried away but I’ve given the lads all the praise in there.
“The character, the resilience and the desire of them to never say die, and keep going and going was fantastic, so credit goes to the group and the fans I must say because they certainly helped them.
“But for Emil, we want him to keep getting more goals, we want him to keep getting on the end of things.
“It’s a great ball from Ched and even Browney’s one the ball across the box is fantastic. I’ve said in there, that gives them the belief to go on and keep working hard.
“Keep doing the right things like they do in training, keep listening and having that belief that we’re a good team, and we’re going to be a very good team, and then you become an excellent team. That’s where we want to try and get to."
Tuesday evening's point means North End remain without defeat in the Championship since the gaffer took over at the beginning of December, so they'll make the journey to Swansea this weekend in high spirits.
Ryan added: “It gives loads of confidence, doesn’t it? That’s unbeaten in four league games, two wins and two draws so we need to continue that.
“We need to make sure we keep clocking up the points and see where it takes us. We want to try and get into that top half of the table as quick as we possibly can, and see where it takes us.
“That’s the belief we’ve got to have. We’ve got good footballers, I’ve said to the group in there. ‘You’re good footballers’, and we can get better on a daily basis and that’s certainly the message going forward.”
Hear much more from the manager in his full interview on iFollow PNE.