Ryan Lowe is looking forward to seeing a potential wall of yellow in the away end on Saturday afternoon when 4,700 PNE fans travel to Wigan.
North End kick off their campaign with a short trip to the DW Stadium to face the Latics, and they will be backed by a sold-out away end.
PNE fans have been encouraged to wear yellow on the day – with the first team wearing the new away kit of the same colour – and the manager is excited to see it.
Ryan told iFollow PNE: “I am really looking forward to it because for the first away game of the season to take 4,700 fans [is brilliant].
“I know it’s only probably 20 or 30 minutes down the road for most, but they’ve spent their hard-earned money all summer to support us.
“They’ve supported us through the pre-season friendlies away in Spain and to see that potential yellow wall on Saturday is going to be fantastic for us.
“That will be with the players, they’ll understand that. There’s a lot of fans there so we’ll make sure we go out and put on a performance, and that’ll be the message [to the players], because when you have them type of numbers travelling like that you’ve got to make sure you perform for them.”
In Wigan Athletic, PNE are facing a team who earned promotion out of League One as champions last season.
They have plenty of Championship experience within their ranks, though, and will be hopeful of a positive start on their return to the second tier.
Ryan added: “I’m expecting a tough game, let me tell you. They’ve got some fantastic players, Leam Richardson’s done a fantastic job since he took over and got them promoted as champions.
"They play a different style, a different brand. They’ll go long, they’ll mix it up, and they’ve got some real competitors in the team and it’s going to be a tough game for us, we know that.
“But ultimately they know it’s going to be a tough game for them as well, because of what we did towards the back end of last season. We finished on a high, and they finished on a high.
“We’ve had new additions, but it’s one we’re really looking forward to.
“It’s going to be an entertaining game, both teams fighting it out on the first game of the season, a local derby, and we’re really looking forward to pitting our wits against them.”
The manager will have an almost fully-fit squad to choose from this weekend, with the only man missing being striker Sean Maguire, who is expected to be back around the middle of August.
That means Ryan has many decisions to make all over the pitch in terms of selection, but he’d rather that than have few to choose from.
Ryan said: “There’ll be a few disappointed faces. I said that to them the other day, but they’ve got to get on with it.
“There’s going to be 50-plus games potentially. I get it because I can only pick 11 players, obviously we can make five subs now as well which is important for us, because we feel we can use that and tactically it can help.
“There’s going to be some disappointed faces, but I really want them challenging each other, which they are doing, knowing that if they’re not at their best there’s another opportunity potentially for them if they’re not in the team to break through.
“That’s going to be important to us right throughout the season so we’re really looking forward to the challenge of all the group.
“It’s my headache to make sure we get the selection right, but it’s one we feel we’re comfortable in.”
You can watch the manager's full interview above for free.