Ali McCann is hoping Preston North End can pick up from where they left off in their previous Championship outing, when they face Bristol City this weekend.
North End came out 2-1 winners over Birmingham City in the league two weeks ago, with only the Emirates FA Cup defeat to Tottenham Hotspur coming since that point.
It’s now sole focus on the league, though, starting on Saturday afternoon when Nigel Pearson brings his side to Deepdale.
Ali said: “Everyone’s looking forward to getting back into it after the Spurs game at the weekend.
“It was a good experience and a good atmosphere at the ground. Obviously we were unlucky with the result in the end, but I feel like we equipped ourselves quite well so we’re all just looking forward to getting back to normal league stuff and trying to kick on again.
“It’s just a case of getting back into the swing of things and hopefully picking up where we left off after Birmingham.
“If we can pick up as many points as possible, [focusing] just solely on the league, it’s only good for us.”
The challenge for PNE between now and the end of the season will certainly be to improve the form at Deepdale, having won four home games so far this campaign.
Ryan Lowe’s side will play on home turf four times between now and the end of February, so there’s no better opportunity to start picking up some points.
Ali added: “It’s no secret that we’ve been poor at home this year in contrast to how good we’ve been away, so it’s just getting that bit of consistency and picking up some wins at home.
“If we can do that then the only way is up really. If we start on Saturday with a win then we can just kick on.
“I don’t know what it is to be fair; we’ve been that good away from home but we haven’t quite transferred it to the games at Deepdale which is something we’ve looked at and spoken about it.
“We need to put it right really and there’s no better place to start than Saturday.”
There’s the potential for a PNE debut on Saturday, with deadline day addition Josh Onomah eligible to feature, however the manager has said he will need the chance to get up to match speed.
He was one of three signings in the January window – on top of loan duo Liam Delap and Tom Cannon – and will add another dimension to the North End midfield.
“The two new lads up top have been brilliant,” added Ali. “They obviously both played in the Birmingham game and you can see the quality.
“They’re big strong lads and good with the ball at their feet as well so they’ll add lots to the group.
“With Josh as well, everyone knows he’s got that quality coming in so it’s good to have the three of them in and around the squad, and it can only add to what’s a good group already.”
You can watch the full interview with Ali on iFollow above.
