Goalscorer Daniel Johnson said a home win has been a “long time coming” after North End’s 2-1 derby day victory over Wigan Athletic.
North End headed into half-time trailing after Greg Cunningham’s own goal, but a Johnson penalty and Tom Cannon finish in the second half completed their comeback and ensured bragging rights over their local rivals.
The 1-0 win against Swansea City in early November was PNE’s last league win on home soil.
DJ said: “A home win has been a long time coming. Everyone knows our home record has not been good enough this season, but I thought we dug deep and got what we deserved.
“Most importantly, it was a derby game and we wanted to get one up on them.
“This is probably what we needed, especially with another game coming up in midweek.”
The Jamaican international revealed that the message from Ryan Lowe at half-time was to maintain a sense of calmness and focus in order to engineer a way back into the match.
“The message at half-time was not to panic and turn it into a fight if we needed to get to that,” he said.
“I didn’t think they deserved their goal; it was a mistake from us. I thought we were the better team in the first half.
“The manager wanted us to try and get in behind them a lot more, stay calm and the goal would come, and it did.”
The leveller came in the 53rd minute when Johnson was initially brought down inside the box by the Wigan goalkeeper, Ben Amos, and the midfielder got to his feet and coolly converted from the spot in front of the Town End.
He said: “There was a bit of doubt in my mind when I was down on the ground and I was in a bit of pain, but as soon as the pain went away, I was fine and ready to take the penalty.
“There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to score. I was happy to contribute and get us back in the game.
“It’s a great feeling to score and see the fans jump up, cheering and celebrating with us. It was a great day for everyone.”
North End are back in Deepdale action on Tuesday night as they face a Coventry City side fresh from beating Sunderland at Saturday lunchtime.
“It is very important that we follow this result up on Tuesday night,” he said.
“We’ll enjoy it, but we’ll dust ourselves down and it’s back to work in preparation for another big game.”