Freddie Woodman feels it’s important Preston North End build on their previous two draws to come out of Saturday’s local clash against Wigan Athletic with three points.
PNE have taken a point in each of their last two outings, against Luton Town and Hull City respectively, keeping a 13th clean sheet of the season in the latter fixture.
It was the first shutout since the beginning of January, though, with goalkeeper Woodman required to make some big saves during the stalemate in East Yorkshire.
He said: “Of course it’s nice, we haven’t had a clean sheet in a while so as a goalkeeper it’s always nice to keep the door shut.
“But, like I said at the start of the season when we were keeping clean sheets, it’s more important that the team pick up wins and pick up results, and we couldn’t quite do that.
“I think it’s definitely a point we can build on, especially defensively. Out of possession I thought we were really good.”
Facing Wigan Athletic for a 3pm kick-off this Saturday, the Latics will arrive at Deepdale sat bottom of the Championship table.
That doesn’t tell the full story, though, with last season’s League One champions having gone four games unbeaten under new manager Shaun Maloney.
Freddie added: “I think it’s something of course to be cautious of because I think most players have been in a relegation battle and it’s not nice.
“You’re fighting for every point and every game, so they’ll come here and they’ll be fighting, and we know that, so we have to be ready.
“I think the beauty of this league is that you can be going through a tricky spell and then you can have a moment of change and next thing you know you’re climbing the table, so I think – like many people say – anyone can beat anyone on their day and we need to be right at it if we’re going to beat this Wigan side.”
The game forms part of a Deepdale double header, with Coventry City making the trip to Lancashire on Tuesday evening.
That gives Ryan Lowe’s side the opportunity to improve on recent form at Deepdale, which North End’s No.1 admitted is something he’s desperate to do.
Freddie said: “It’s been on my mind for a long time now and it’s something that’s driving us all mad really because the fans give us such great support at home and we really want to repay them with results and performances.
“We haven’t quite done that for whatever reason, but Saturday gives us a good opportunity to put that right.”