Ryan Lowe felt his Preston North End side were “fantastic in everything” they did during the 2-1 victory over Sunderland.
Will Keane gave PNE the lead in the 25th minute as he diverted Mads Frøkjær’s 20-yard effort beyond the goalkeeper, before Jack Clarke levelled from the penalty spot.
Mads himself then scored his first goal for the club in the second half to earn PNE all three points, to follow the opening-day draw against Bristol City.
The manager said: “It was a fantastic performance. A fantastic performance without the ball too.
“We had to be solid and resolute today. We came up against a good team with some good wingers: [Jack] Clarke, [Patrick] Roberts, [Abdoullah] Ba, [Alex] Pritchard: they’re relentless.
“I thought the lads were fantastic in everything they’ve done and then we go and score two goals, and the atmosphere was amazing also so I’m really pleased.
“We can’t get too carried away. It’s what we wanted, starting the season off with a home win and we have to move on to the next one really quickly because they come thick and fast, but I’m just really pleased we could get three points.”
Much of the pre-match talk was surrounding the performance at home to Sunderland on the final day of the 2022/23 campaign, which saw the visitors win 3-0.
The gaffer and the players both knew how necessary it was to put in a better display this time around, and to follow the point gained on day one of the season at Ashton Gate.
Ryan said: “I’m going to be happy with any point or any three points on the road this season. The point last weekend on the road and three points at home of course because any points in the Championship are good points.
“What we’ve got to do now is just keep building on it.
“We can’t get too carried away. We know that, but I’m just pleased with the fans and everyone that we’ve got off to a good start at Deepdale.”