Ryan Ledson felt it was important for Preston North End to get back to winning ways against Huddersfield Town following two defeats last week.
North End went to West Yorkshire after losing to Bristol City and Stoke City, but came out on top against the Terriers thanks to Greg Cunningham’s second-half header.
Cunningham, one of the men to come into the starting XI alongside Ryan, met Ben Whiteman’s corner superbly to open the scoring in the 50th minute.
Speaking to iFollow PNE, Ryan said: “It is [a big win], especially with the week we’ve had, back-to-back defeats.
“You don’t want to get into a rot and lose three or four on the bounce, so to come here and get a win with the performance was brilliant.
“It was everything we wanted, and we’re ready for Saturday now.
“We had a meeting after the Stoke game, and the Stoke game wasn’t good enough, so we debriefed it, we had a look at where we went wrong, where we can get better and I think we just put that to bed early.
“We were focused on today and really trying to put in a good performance and we did that today.
“To a man I thought everyone was brilliant, and it was a much-needed three points for us.”
Midfielder Ryan felt PNE played some good football in the first half, without creating too many chances, and the conversations in the dressing room at the break were about upping the performance levels by five or ten per cent.
They didn’t have to wait too long once action resumed, as just five minutes into the second period Cunningham headed home right in front of the traveling 1,572 PNE fans.
“It’s what you play for – honestly it is – when that one went in with the fans all there,” added Ryan.
“They’ve come in their numbers again tonight; I know it’s only up the road but fair play to them.
“It takes a lot for them to pay their money and come, and we’ve got to make sure we put on a show for them, especially after the two performances we put in last week.
“It simply wasn’t good enough, so today was for them really.”
Ryan played the full 90 minutes alongside Ben Whiteman in the centre of the park, ahead of the back three, working in a box midfield with Ben Woodburn and Ali McCann just ahead.
He said: “We haven’t lost this season when me and Whitey have played in there. I don’t think we’ve conceded a goal when we’ve been in there.
“Obviously the formation is what it is, and if we’re picked to play then obviously we love playing with each other, especially with the two lads in front of us. It worked well for us.”
While the three points are there to celebrate, focus will very quickly turn to the next game – a Lancashire derby at Bloomfield Road.
Asked if it was important to get a positive result ahead of that clash, Ryan said: “It was because it sets us up for Saturday now.
“We all know what the Blackpool game means. We’ll go there and we’re going for three points.
“There’s no hiding that it’s a big game, and we’re up for it. I’ll make sure all the lads are bang up for it.”